Nocturne
by Cannibal Cabbage
Summary: Stephenie Meyer's New Moon, with a twist. Edward believes it's best to leave Forks, and Bella behind, but his family don't agree. 1 against 6, Edward is forced to stay in Forks, but bad news, he's already dumped Bella; while still loving her. R&R? TY xD
1. Empty

**Nocturne.**

**EPOV**

Suddenly, Jasper was going crazy. He ripped forward, trying to get to the burgundy liquid dripping out of Bella's finger. This couldn't happen. I had to stop this. _But how can you stop this when you want to do the same?_ A little voice asked in my head. I shook my head, jumping in the way of my lost brother, protecting Bella. Everything seemed to go in slow motion then, Jasper snarled forward, crashing into me. In turn, I crashed into Bella. As if the paper-cut wasn't enough, she fell backward, off her seat and into the falling glass behind her. I could basically hear the slice of her skin, and the soft, warm trickle of blood that followed. I had to grit my teeth to stop me from going to the wound. How that problem sickened me. I couldn't even care for her without wanting to kill her. Somebody grabbed Jasper; who was still snapping and snarling, and dragged him away. I couldn't breathe; I wouldn't let myself. She would surely die if I did. Argh! What a horrible inevitable fate.

I wasn't needed in the room, Carlisle, my adopted father was taking care of her wounds. How I envied his control. He could probably bathe in blood and nothing would happen. Now, how he was able to be close to her, the wound in her arm where the sweet blood was still pumping out... It was drawing me in, practically calling for me. I crouched beside her, gritting my teeth. If I focused on her, rather than the wonderful liquid, coming from her heart, designed for me personally, I would be able to keep control. Or, I could think of sentences like that, which just make things worse. I was barely aware of things going on around Bella and I; I knew Carlisle was there too, but other than that, it was like we were locked in place. Or _I _was, at least. I briefly remember Carlisle telling me we needed to move her. Could I withstand physical contact? Would she want physical contact? After all, my adopted brother, a vampire like me had just gone for her over a paper-cut. She didn't complain as I lifted her. Though there were layers between her skin and my own, I could feel her pulse. It enticed me and sickened me at the same time. How could I be _this_ aware of her blood? Carlisle and Bella spoke a little on the way. I was lost to their words. I set her down in a chair and watched. I stood for a long time, till I was aware she was speaking to me.

"Just go, Edward." She mumbled.

"I can handle it." _No, I couldn't._ She was scraping on the back of my throat, her very essence. If I could stay though, maybe it wouldn't be so bad next time. _Next time?!_ I thought angrily. Was there going to be a next time? Would this happen again? Why would I let that happen?!

"You don't need to be a hero. Carlisle can fix me up without your help." She smiled. Like I was helping anyway. She flinched in pain, and that made up my decision. If I couldn't stay now, I couldn't save her in the future. Would I need to save her again? Would she be in danger, because of vampires, _again_?

"I'll stay."

"Why are you so masochistic?" She said, though it sounded like it was to herself. She was wrong, I wasn't hurting myself, I was hurting her.

"Edward, you may as well go find Jasper before he gets too far.

I'm sure he's upset with himself, and I doubt he'll listen to anyone but you right now." Carlisle said. _You're making this worse for yourself,_ He thought.

"Yes, go find Jasper," Bella agreed fervently. Like I cared much about _him _at the moment. Yes, it wasn't his fault, but still, Bella was more important. As though Alice could read _my _thoughts, she spoke up.

"You might as well do something useful," She said, thoughts clouded with worry. She felt the pain too, but knew it was worse for me. I wonder why that was…? I looked around at them, and realizing it was 3 against 1, I walked out. As soon as I was outside, I could release the breath I'd been holding on to. I cursed the air. I cursed the scent of her blood; no, I cursed my weakness to it. It was too beautiful to be hated; I was the only true one to hate. Esme was outside; she appeared next to me, eyes sparkling in sadness.

"It wasn't your fault," She murmured sadly. I glowered at her, but said nothing. Emmett and Rosalie were sitting in the bench, Emmett looking down at his feet in annoyance and disappointment. Of course, none of us blamed Jasper or felt any bad feelings toward him-this was something that could easily happen-it was just awful that such an accident had happened. Rosalie was beside Emmett, smug look on her face with '_Told You So' _style thoughts running through her head. I snarled at her, and her eyes widened in innocence, looking at me incredulously.

"What?!" She asked virtuously. Emmett peered at me curiously. _Don't be surprised. Something like this was going to happen to the silly girl anyway. It's her own fault, don't get angry at any of us, she should be hanging around with all the other 'normals'. She probably shouldn't even be alive, she's so darn thick. Maybe you _should_ go out hunting with her there, just in case that James' attack wasn't enough of a hint that vampires and humans _shouldn't mix.

I could have killed her right there for even thinking that. I was going to, but just as I began to crouch to spring at her, Alice crashed into me, pulling me out of my unformed plans. As she did, everyone's mind I could read came into my head, everything they saw and felt. The main thing I saw was myself, coming from everyone in the garden. The worst thing was the _way _I looked. Esme's thoughts were still ashamed, but now she was also terribly worried about what this accident would have done to me. From the picture of me she was seeing, my face was very distant, though I was absolutely terrified every new possibility, each one more horrifying than the last. Of course, these weren't Alice's visions; they were just every little thing that could go wrong with Bella spending time with me. I hardly looked myself anymore, maybe more like some cold, heartless person. It felt like I _was_.

Alice looked up at me, eyes beseeching. _Don't fight, there are people who need more help than just hurting Rosalie. _She looked away, and she mentally winced in pain and concern. I followed her gaze to see a tall shadow by the trees. _Want me to come?_ Alice asked, hoping I'd decline. She was scared she'd make him feel worse, somehow. I complied, shaking my head before slowly trudging over to him. He heard, and turned away, already knowing it was me. I stood by him for a moment or two; he still didn't look away from the trees. Since he didn't talk, and I had absolutely no idea what to say, I searched in his head to see if there was anything I _could _say. His thoughts were a jumble, I don't know whether it was intentional or not, but I could get nothing from him. "So…" I said, breaking the ominous and awkward silence. He turned towards me, eyes ablaze with anger and remorse.

"Edward, just go away. It's bad enough that I did what I did, and I don't need you to come tell me it's alright, or blame me or whatever. I don't need to talk to anyone." He put his head in his hands and sighed.

I half smiled, ruefully, before replying. "No, it's not alright. But it's not your fault, Jasper. I know you think I'm just saying that, but if it was your fault, do you think I'd come make you feel better?" I smiled again, hoping for him to lighten up, though nobody else was the slightest bit cheerful.

He looked up from his hands, "Is Bella alright? She's not scared of me is she? No, that's silly, of course she will be. But Carlisle fixed her arm, right?"

My eyes tightened a little. "He's doing that now." I said curtly.

"But it'll be alright after that, won't it? What did you mean by 'No, it's not alright'? Is she really scared? I guess she should be. Sorry."

I sighed, and sat down by the foot of the tree. "It's not that. She seems to understand that it wasn't your fault, and doesn't seem that bothered, maybe a little shaken. It's just…" I didn't really know how to finish. I know Rosalie had said about _Bella_ missing dangerous warnings- even though I'd hated hearing her thoughts, I still listened to what she had to say- but maybe it was _me _who was missing them. Maybe, all the trouble we'd put Bella in was just the world trying to tell me that I was selfish, stupid and cruel for being with Bella, though I knew that already. Maybe it was time to stop and just remember. It was the best I could do for her. If I could. We never really expected things to go far, a human and a vampire, so it should just be like any other person leaving your life, for her, anyway. For me, I wasn't quite sure. If saving her life was the reason, I could save her life. I would save her life every time, if needs be- and with Bella, there'd be a lot of times- but could I save her by never seeing her again? I would _have _to. Selfishness wasn't going to hurt her, no matter what else had tried to.

"It's just…?" Jasper prompted. He seemed in a better mood, at least.

"Things might… Be difficult from now on. A lot of things to think through," I said, rising again. He looked at me, confused. I just smiled sadly and shook my head. "Shall I tell the others you're okay now?"

"No, I don't think I am. When you're away, I won't have to hold my thoughts anymore, and I'll just be thinking about it again." He said, looking away.

"Okay, then." My voice was beginning to sound dull, sadder as I thought of what had happened, what would happen if things continued to go the way they were. I had the power to change things, but the strength?

I got back to the house, where Alice was waiting. "Any better?" she asked sadly.

"Not really." I replied brusquely.

"Should I go see him?" She asked, I just shook my head.

"When he wants to see anyone, he'll come over." She bit her lip anxiously and looked away to where he was standing again. Worry masked her thoughts. Suddenly, she looked up at me, confused.

"Bella's okay." She said, commenting on the look on my face. I saw it in her head. Empty.

"For now." I snorted angrily.

"What are you planning?" She asked, voice suddenly sharp.

"Nothing, yet, I don't know what I can do."

"Agh, what's the point? Things are fine. Don't go messing up the future, it gives me headaches." She scowled. I just pushed past her toward the open back door. Emmett and Rosalie were still outside on the bench, and just as I walked to the door, I saw Rosalie glance over at me, still smug. I snarled under my breath.

I could hear the voices of everyone inside now that I was paying attention to them. "Esme, let me do that." Bella said, embarrassed. "I'm already done." I could smell the fumes from the chemicals; it was horrible, but at least not as bad as the alluring smell of her blood. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine, Carlisle sews faster than any other doctor I've had." She replied, it didn't soothe my mood one bit, I knew she was okay. Carlisle and Esme both laughed, perfectly at ease on the surface, though it was only a mask, not to worry Bella.

Alice walked ahead of me to stand by Bella. She gently touched her elbow, the arm that hadn't got hurt. "C'mon, I'll get you something less macabre to wear." They headed upstairs, leaving me to face Carlisle and Esme.

"Are you alright, Edward?" Esme asked. I just nodded solemnly. It didn't fool anyone, of course. "It'll all be okay, I'm sure of it." She said, certain. I stared at her dubiously. I wanted to tell her she was sure of nothing, but that would be mean. I was really just angry at myself.

They both smiled encouragingly, trying to get a response, but I just stared at them coldly, as if they were people I hardly knew. I shoved past them to stand by the front door, looking up at the stairs, waiting for Bella. I could hear her and Alice talking upstairs, but I didn't listen, no matter how curious of her thoughts I was. Eventually, I heard them coming downstairs again. I opened the door and waited. When she got down, she looked at my face and worry spread across her own.

"Take your things!" Alice reminded her, running to the piano to get her presents. "You can thank me later, when you've opened them."

"Night, Bella." Carlisle and Esme murmured, glancing at me as they spoke, as did Bella. I kept my eyes forward, not reacting to their fretting.

We walked to the car in silence, maybe, like me; she didn't know what to say. Maybe her arm was hurting more than she let on. The car drive that followed had the same silence, and I had no intention of breaking it. It was bad enough being left with my festering thoughts, never mind having to worry about the subject of them as well. She seemed more anxious by the minute. I wanted to know why, but I never dared look at her, or even speak to her. "Say something." She finally pleaded. Like what? Crack a joke? Tell her I was so very sorry and make false promises that it would never happen again?

"What do you want me to say?" I said unemotionally, almost like I didn't care. I didn't like _that_, but I couldn't put any life into my words or thoughts. She winced, and I immediately wanted to apologize, but I held back.

"Tell me you forgive me." She whispered. She thought I was _angry _at _her_? I guess I was angry, but not at her, at myself, destiny, and the whole ridiculous vampirism.

"Forgive _you?_ For what?!" I said sharply, confused and even angrier at myself. She was irrationally taking the trouble herself.

"If I'd been more careful, nothing would have happened." She said sadly. That was the whole problem. She shouldn't need to be careful with such silly things. It was hardly something that could incapacitate someone, getting a paper cut, yet having a party with the Cullens, anything could go wrong. She could have died tonight. I shivered slightly.

"Bella, you gave yourself a paper cut- that hardly deserves the death penalty." I very nearly rolled my eyes.

"It's still my fault."

"Your fault?! If you'd cut yourself at Mike Newton's house, with Jessica there and Angela and your other normal friends, the worst that could possibly have happened would be what? Maybe they couldn't find you a bandage? If you'd tripped and knocked over a pile of glass plates on your own-without someone throwing you into them-even then, what's the worst? You'd getblood on the seats when they drove you to the emergency room? Mike Newton could have held your hand while they stitched you up-and he wouldn't be fighting the urge to kill you the whole time he was there. Don't try to take any of this on yourself, Bella. It will only make me more disgusted with myself."

There, I'd said it, and thought there are thing I wish I hadn't said- for example about wanting to kill her, that definitely made me disgusted with myself- but now she knew what was on my mind. Well, some of it anyway. She probably thought that now this was over there would be no problems. Well, that _could_ be the case, if I could only find it in me to leave for her.

"How the hell did Mike Newton end up in this conversation?" She said, scowling.

"Mike Newton ended up in this conversation because Mike Newton would have been a hell lot healthier for you to be with." I snapped.

"I'd rather die than be with Mike Newton. I'd rather die than be with anyone but you." She whispered, upset again. She should _never_ think like that. If I left her now, she would never die. That was exaggerating. Maybe she would be upset, but never, ever die. She should be with a Mike Newton type persona; I'd just got in the way, selfishly.

"Don't be melodramatic, please."

"Well then, don't you be ridiculous." It wasn't ridiculous at all, had she not seen what had happened tonight? Trust Bella to be the one looking away as someone tried to kill her, to think nothing of it. I never once looked at her, even through that argument. Without realizing it, she'd made me feel a great deal worse. Of course I didn't hold it against her, it was a relief to have the feeling, almost a punishment for all the things I'd ever done wrong; everything I was ashamed of. And the burning throat? That was good too, it added to the punishment. The punishment for existing to ruin her life, for endangering her, for being unable to save her from the worst monster of all. A penalty fit for a vampire, a prisoner to my own pain.

"Will you stay tonight?" She asked after a long silence.

"I should go home." I said after a long pause. I didn't know why, it just felt right to be away from her, even if it upset me.

"For my birthday?" she pursed her lips.

"You can't have it both ways- either you want people to ignore your birthday or you don't. One or the other." She was using the birthday trick again, the way she'd used earlier on the way home from school. She sighed, smiling a little at last; I caught from the corner of my eye.

"Okay. I've decided that I don't want you to ignore my birthday. I'll see you upstairs." She got out and went to grab her presents. She didn't want them earlier. I frowned in confusion, looking at her for the first time in ages.

"You don't have to take those." She probably didn't want to upset them by leaving them behind.

"I want to." She said, also getting confused, like she was trying to figure out my tone of voice.

"No, you don't. Carlisle and Esme spent money on you."

"I'll live." She responded brusquely. She shut the door just before I got beside her.

"Let me carry them, at least." I said, eyeing her arm with a little more worry in my blank expression. I carefully took them from her. "I'll be in your room."

"Thanks." She smiled again.

"Happy birthday." I leaned in to kiss her, so gently, more careful than before, which was understandable after what had happened. I smiled at her, acting, as I walked away. I walked round the back of the house and took a running jump to the open window; it was rarely ever shut nowadays. I put her things down on the bed, and sat down beside them. Ugh, what a mess. Subconsciously, an idea had already formed in my head. I had already toyed with the idea, but brushed it away quickly and selfishly. Just now, it was coming to thought. Alice wouldn't like it, she would surely see it coming, but what was the worst she could do? Especially if it was for a reason she supported.

I picked up one of her presents, the CD and twisted it about in my hands uneasily. She was upstairs now, in the bathroom. "Hi." I muttered as she came in. The thing I had to do was terrifying. I had no idea how to do it. It made me even sadder to think about it, so I pushed the idea away for now. Not on her birthday, that would be cruel.

"Hi." She responded warmly, hugging me. "Can I open my presents now?"

"Where did the enthusiasm come from?"

"You made me curious." She answered simply, before picking up the present from Carlisle and Esme. Her hand floated over the paper, and I suddenly had a feeling of 'déjà vu'.

"Allow me." I took the box away from her before she could repeat today's sequence of actions. Quickly pulling the paper off, I gave her the small white box that was concealed.

"Are you sure I can handle lifting the lid?" She muttered sarcastically. I was sure she could tear off the paper, just not sure my nerves would take it. She opened the box, and stared at the pieces of paper inside for a long moment, figuring out what they were. "We're going to Jacksonville?" She asked, sounding excited about a _present_. How unusual for her.

"That's the idea." Or it _was _the idea. I didn't know what was going to happen from there on.

"I can't believe it. Renee is going to flip! You don't mind, though, do you? It's sunny, you'll have to stay inside all day."

"I think I can handle it. If I'd had any idea you could respond to a gift this appropriately, I would have made you open it in front of Carlisle and Esme. I thought you'd complain."

"Well, of course it's too much. But I get to take you with me!"

"Now I wish I'd spent money on your present. I didn't realize that you were capable of being reasonable."

She set the box down, and reached over for the other present. I held out my hand to open it again. She looked up quickly, not as annoyed as before and handed it to me. I took it and ripped the paper away with a quick jerk of my wrist. I gave the CD back to her, and she took it with a puzzled expression.

"What is it?" She wondered, looking from me to the blank case. Instead of telling her, I decided she should hear it first, to see her reaction. I gently took the case from her and put the CD into her stereo. After a long moment, the song started. Her lullaby. I looked down at her quickly, only to see she was crying. Panic washed over me.

"Does your arm hurt?"I asked her, wondering over what I could do to help.

"No, it's not my arm. It's beautiful, Edward." She said, smiling through her tears. I remembered the way she'd cried when I played the song to her for the first time. "You couldn't have given me anything I would love more. I can't believe it." She whispered, overwhelmed.

"I didn't think you would let me get a piano so I could play for you here."

"You're right." She agreed, thankful I'd just settled for the CD.

"How does your arm feel?" I asked, worried again, she probably wasn't lying, but there was no way to know for sure unless I asked.

"Just fine." She said, though her voice was a little too nonchalant for me to believe her.

"I'll get you some Tylenol."

"I don't need anything." She muttered, but it was too late, I'd already got up and was at her door. "Charlie!" She warned quietly. Ah, yes, her father was still awake downstairs. It was fine, he was far to enveloped in a soccer match to care, or even listen for noises from upstairs. Not that he would hear me.

"He won't catch me." I said before stepping out the door. I was back before the door had got the chance to open all the way. I got two pills from the bottle, and gave them to her along with a glass of water. She took them straight away, without a complaint. Neither of us spoke for a long moment, the only sound was that of her lullaby, filling the air quietly, sweetly.

"It's late." I reminded her, before picking her up in one arm and pulling back her covers with the other. I carefully lay her on the bed and tucked her in, before coming to lie beside her, on top of the covers. She leaned against my shoulder and sighed.

"Thanks again." She murmured.

"You're welcome." She fell silent for a long moment, but of course, she wouldn't be asleep. Esme's favorite song came on, and I mentally pictured the notes on the page that went along with it, trying to block out the darker, sadder thoughts in my mind. It was wrong to stay, that was certainly true. It was right to leave, but was it possible?

"What are you thinking about?" She whispered. _If I could keep you safe and do the right thing. _I should have said, but she would get upset, and I didn't want to hurt her, not on her birthday.

"I was thinking about right and wrong, actually." I said simply but sadly. She froze in place. There was another pause. She wasn't looking at me, so I stole a quick glance at her. As soon as I looked at her, 'quick glance' failed. She was too beautiful, too good a person for me. She deserved far, far more than the fate she'd been dealt. A proper life. She would have. I was going to save her, I was going to leave. It was for the best, and as long as she was safe and happy, I would be too. Well, happy for her. It wouldn't matter about how happy for me I would be. Bella was the main priority.

"Remember how I decided I wanted you to _not_ ignore my birthday?" She was leading up to something, but I was unsure what. Or maybe it was just to pull me out of my thought.

"Yes," I said anxiously.

"Well, I was thinking, since it's still my birthday, that I'd like you to kiss me again."

"You're greedy tonight." I murmured, voice unintentionally disapproving.

"Yes, I am- but please, don't do anything you don't want to do," She said quickly in response to the critical tone in my voice. I laughed, would there ever be a time I _would _just let myself do what I wanted? That thought brought back the thought of the upcoming gloom ahead.

"Heaven forbid that I should do anything I don't want to do." I said, mood once again darkened by the future. I gently lifted her face to mine to press my lips carefully to hers. As usual, her heart beat like it was trying to take off, overreacting. I could have laughed; I would certainly miss her reactions. That thought caught me. This could be the last time I ever kissed her, got to see her reaction. Suddenly, I was frantic with sadness, and before I knew it I was reacting in a way that normally, I would never for fear of hurting her or getting carried away. Right now, I was carried away, tangling my fingers in her hair, taunting the burning of my throat with the pain I was glad to feel. This had to stop, or else I would hurt her. Just a single twinge of pain and she could be dead. Carefully but quickly, I pushed away. She got the picture at once and put her head back on the pillow breathlessly.

"Sorry, that was out of line." I gasped, surprisingly.

"_I _don't mind." She sighed. She really should mind, that was endangering her life. I scowled.

"Try to sleep, Bella." I sighed.

"No. I want you to kiss me again." She said stubbornly.

"You're over-estimating my self control."

"Which is tempting you more, my blood or my body?" She asked lightly, making me smile slightly.

"It's a tie. Now, why don't you stop pushing your luck and go to sleep?"

"Fine." She said sulkily, but she obliged, at least. We lay there for what must have been ages, before her breathing became more regular, and with a shiver, she fell asleep. Carefully and slowly, I got up and walked to the rocking chair in the corner of her room. It felt like the time, long ago, when I'd came to her house and pondered Alice's visions of me, falling in love with Bella. All the rights and wrongs of that situation, Alice's prediction that I would be unable to leave her alone. Well, Alice, be prepared to be proved wrong. I could leave, for a good cause at least. I was leaving, knowing it was for the best, and Alice wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Though, to be honest, she already had a lot on her mind with Jasper.

"Edward." Bella sighed in her sleep, sounding distressed. It was obviously a nightmare. "No… Spring… Same kiss." She muttered. I froze; she had noticed the urgency, the sadness in that last kiss and made the connection. Did she know that I was going to leave? Probably not, she wouldn't have fallen asleep; she'd still be awake, probably questioning me and begging me to stay.

She mumbled a few more times in her sleep, nothing intelligible, but always sounding sad. If I was to leave her, I would have to lie, or else she would never let me go, not that she could do that much to stop me. Or, worse yet, I'd still leave but she wouldn't get on with her life. She'd have to believe I'd moved on, too. Best to start 'moving on' now, or else she'd be in danger for that much longer. It wasn't hard, I was hardly in a laughing mood, this was a difficult thing to think about. It made me feel, if not look awful. I looked at her, and pain shredded through me.

It was after that everything about our relationship deteriorated. It was all my fault, really, but this was probably for the best. I had to speak to my family.

**AN: Okay, this is the idea I was talking about a while ago. I know it just sounds like New Moon in Edward's point of view, but it's not ;)  
I know it's really long, but I was doing an EPOV New Moon a while back, not to put on fanfic, and I used a lot of that. Will he actually leave in this story? Hmm... you'll have to see :D **

**Read and Review, will post another chapter soon. **

**Cheeers x**

**Rachee (: x**


	2. Destroyed

"You can't do this, Edward!" Alice practically screeched, throwing her hands up in the air. "If we leave... Bella... Bella will be _hurt_!" Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"But, she'll get over it." I glowered. What was a little pain to a lifetime of danger, or several lifetimes of cruel immortality? "She's better off that way, in the long term at least." Jasper tried to relax me, but I just looked at him blankly. Somehow, this made him shrink away from me, along with the feeling. Maybe my face wasn't as blank as I thought?

"Alice is right, Edward." Said... Rosalie? All our heads snapped up to look at her. Since when did Rosalie want Bella part of our family? "She might blab if left alone."

"And with no proof; get sent to a _mental institute_!" I snarled. After I said the words, both Alice and I shuddered. Alice had spent a lot of her human life there; and I would never wish the same fate to Bella.

"Edward, if you're going to ditch her, at least _dispose_ of her," Rosalie sneered.

"We're leaving so some other vampire doesn't _dispose_ of her," I said through gritted teeth.

"Who said we _are_ leaving?" Esme said angrily. Wow, I had never seen her like this. "Not only are you wanting me to leave this house, _my_ house, the one I build and decorated with my own time and money, but you also want me to leave my _daughter_ behind, feeling unloved?!" She shook her head, eyes sparkling in that tearful way again. "No, Edward. We are not leaving." Carlisle held her then, stroking her arm lovingly.

"Your mother is right. If anything is to be done, you know what. Until then... we are staying. As are you."

"But-" I started.

"No, Edward, you aren't going. It's six against one, and I can already see you staying." Alice said. She saw something else, and an angry glint was in her eyes. _I want to talk to you about that... later._ Her mental voice was truly a snarl. I really had hit a nerve with this one.

What the hell, make it worse. "I guess you don't care for Bella. At least not as much as I would have thought. She will get into danger, being around vampi-"

"Damn it Edward!" Emmett roared, slamming his hand on the table. It split in two where his fist collided with it. Nobody seemed to care about that, every one of them were either glaring at me, or growling; even Rosalie. "Don't you _dare_ say we don't care for Bella! Would we have protected her from James?! Would we have welcomed her into our home?! Would we have pulled Jasper away?!" Shame filled the room. "Don't you _dare,"_ He repeated, in a snarl.

"I agree." Rosalie glowered at me. "You all know how I would rather Bella was _not_ part of our family. But I have come to accept she _is._ And I may not tell her that till she's lying on her death bed –which, loving you she will surely reach- but she needs to know this family needs her. Because we _do_ need her. As someone who has stood back, watched the family life go by, I have at least, the knowledge of a change. Something we didn't think we needed. And you might think you're strong enough, you can leave her, but you _can't_. You _arsehole_." She spat, getting up and walking away. We all watched her, wide eyed.

"I should probably follow her..." Emmett mumbled.

"Get lost, Emmett!" Came a voice from upstairs.

"Looks like I'm stuck down here..."

"I agree with Rosalie, you're not strong enough, Edward. As much as I'm surprised as to _who_ said it, she's right." Alice said, not as violent as before. Esme came out of her angry stupor and gasped at the broken table in front of her.

"Emmett!" She cried, "That was an antique!"

"Sorry, Mom. I had an excuse though," He glared at me.

"Yes, well. If any more of my furniture is broken, I will blame you, Edward," She said. I just looked at her angrily.

"Are we all settled, then? Nothing will happen, as we are not moving, Edward."

"I'm not so sure about that, Carlisle." I said blankly. Alice gasped in shock and rage.

"That's even WORSE!" She screeched, looking at me.

"It's the only thing I can do, and it will be better, in the long term."

"What's going on?" Jasper asked, holding on to Alice, in what I hoped wasn't a restraint. Alice glared at me, more murderous than ever.

"You'll never guess what he's going to do to Bella," She snarled. "He's _dumping _her."

"But... Edward... you love her, right?"

"It's for the best!" I yelled, but it was no use. Esme had her face in her hands, and was dry sobbing.

"You'll be miserable, she'll be miserable... what is the point?" She asked, looking like she would cry again.

"The point is to keep her safe. She will know about us, be won't be involved with us. Therefore, she will be no target for other vampires. And we will not have to endure her scent... " I looked at Jasper, who avoided my gaze. "Plus, we can make sure she doesn't say anything, not that she will."

"And your life will be hell." Alice said solemnly. "Imagine watching her be with someone else. Do it. How do you feel, thinking about that?" She was still glaring, but her voice was quieter, calmer. It was a painful thing to think about, but it was supposed to happen. I shouldn't be alive, I was like a ghost, stealing her life from her.

"It should happen. I have no right to feel anything about it." I said seriously.

"But you do."

"But I shouldn't." I countered. She took a different, more painful route.

"What about her? How do you think Bella will feel, seeing you every day? Do you think she will be able to get over you that easily?"

"If I look like I'm over her, she should."

"But she won't. And you won't." She didn't know _that,_ with her visions. She sighed then. "At least you will always see each other. I'll keep her wedding dress, I know I'll still need it," Alice said passively, as though she had just commented on the weather, rather than the impossible future.

"Throw it out, or I'll _tear_ it out," I snarled.

"Nuh-huh. The groom doesn't get to see the dress. Plus, you will _never_ find it. And you will regret it if I throw it out. Trust me." I didn't trust her. "But go ahead, dump her. But be ready to grovel," Alice smiled slightly. I scowled at her, that wouldn't happen. Bella would go to college, and we would move on. I would act like I never knew her in high school, and the others would do the same.

The next few days, I tried to act as apathetic as possible, pretend I didn't love Bella anymore. It was tougher than I thought, but I could –barely- manage it. Every look in her eye, those little confused, or hurt looks would just tear right through me though. I felt sick a lot of the time, horrified that I had let it get to a stage where it hurt to hurt her, or even where it _did_ hurt her. At school, our conversations got shorter and shorter, and only ever about things it was absolutely necessary to speak about; like asking her to pass me something; disconnected things.

When it came to the day I was breaking up with her, she hardly even looked at me, which probably meant my acting was working well. But ever so often, when I did look at her, she looked decisive, like she was planning. The little crease between her eyes had appeared. Maybe she had taken enough of the silence and was going to dump _me._ That would make things easier, in some ways. But also harder, in a lot more. By the end of school, when we walking back to the car park, I was up for it. Or so it seemed.

"Do you mind if I come over tonight?" I asked her, as I hadn't gone to her house yesterday.

"Of course not." She said, sounding relieved.

"Now?" Please cooperate, please, please cooperate. If I didn't do this while I was prepared, ready for it, I don't think I would be able to again.

"Sure. I was just going to drop a letter for Renee in the mailbox on the way. I'll meet you there." She smiled unsurely, though she thought this was the start of things getting better, though she wasn't yet ready to believe it.

An opportunity, at last. I reached over her and grabbed the large package on the passenger seat. "I'll do it. And I'll still beat you there." I smiled at the thought of her truck. I would beat her to her house, make sure my plan could follow through properly and then leave her. The perfect heartbreak plan.

"Okay," She said, confused. I shut her door and walked back to my own car. There was no time to sit and mope around today, this had to be done. I got to the postbox quickly and flitted to it, pushing the package through the slot quickly but carefully. Then I drove back to her house, parking in the space where her father normally did. I unlocked the door with the hidden key from under the eave, and rushed up to her room. Everything that was from me, everything to do with me, I removed it. Pulling her CD out of the player, my eyes rested on her photo album. I would surely be in there. Slowly and carefully, I grabbed it and opened it with the lightest of touches. On the first page, I was there, before her birthday party in her kitchen. I looked happier then. I carefully loosened the picture from the metal framings. Underneath the frame, Bella had written:

**Edward Cullen, Charlie's Kitchen, Sept. 13****th****.**

There was nothing I could do about the writing, so I flipped the page to find another picture, Charlie and I watching TV. I pulled that one out, too. There was only one more picture of me in the album, with Bella. Well, at first it was just a picture of me. For some reason, Bella had folded herself out of the picture to put it in the frame. I pulled this one out more carefully than the others- if it was possible to be _more_ careful- this one was the best. Although we looked like we'd just been to a funeral, it still had Bella in it. She looked sad; she hadn't managed to smile in time for the picture. Even despite that, it was like looking at an angel, standing beside a monster. I stood absolutely still for a moment, eyes fixed on the picture. I wish she'd got a better, happier one of herself, as a better memory. This one would do. I folded it up and tucked it in my pocket. The rest of them, I had no idea what to do with them. I didn't want to take them away entirely. What use would I have for some wretched pictures of myself? Plus, I didn't want to take myself right out of her life. Even if she didn't know it, I would still be there, in picture form. Searching around her room, for somewhere she would never find them, I also made sure I'd put everything exactly the way it was before I'd came in. Suddenly, I saw it. A wonky floorboard, sticking out slightly where it met another. I kneeled beside it and gently-so not to snap it right off- pulled it up. There was a small groan as it scraped against the others beside it, but it let up quickly. I set the things I'd collected- her presents, the photos- onto the concrete underneath, making sure it was safe for them there. Then I pushed the plank of wood back down, shoving it into place at what I hoped, was the same as before. I pushed up from the floor, looking around the room once more, and dared down the stairs. One more thing.

_Going for a walk with Edward, up the path. Be back soon, B_.

I could hardly write, my hand was actually shaking. I guess I was upset, I was just about to break up with the girl I loved, and then see her for another few years. I could just skip school, if any of my family would let me. Matchmaker Alice was definitely against me skipping, though. I put the note somewhere Charlie would notice it, just in case she didn't come straight home. Then, I quickly stepped out of her house, locking it behind me. She hadn't come back yet. Her truck was really, really slow. I thought I'd been a while in the house, but obviously not. I got back in my car and waited; so to seem less suspicious. She got there a minute later. _Here we go. _I thought sardonically to myself. _Crunch time._ I got out of my car at the same time as her, not hurrying to open her door for her, for a change. I grabbed her bag and put it back onto her seat. She looked up, confused.

"Come for a walk with me." I wasn't asking her, we were going relentless. I gently took her hand, and tried to feel as apathetic as I was pretending to be. It didn't work. She looked scared as we began to walk to the trees by her house. We only walked a few steps into the forest; her house was still perfectly visible. It would be easy for her to get home from here. I turned to face her, though never looking directly at her, when she was looking at me, at least. I leaned against a nearby tree, as I was beginning to feel dizzy. What if I couldn't? What if this was a bad idea? No, it wasn't a bad idea; she'd be safe without me in her life. I'd just be some guy she used to know, some anonymous that goes to her school. But what about the time when she nearly got run over, last winter? She wouldn't be safe; I very nearly stopped what I was going to say to her. But, someone else could look after her. I was arguing with myself, until suddenly, it all straightened out. I looked into her eyes for half a second, and that was it. I was leaving her; she couldn't afford to be endangered, especially by me. Plus, I wasn't going to call this off and tell everyone it was a big joke.

"Okay, let's talk." She said confidently, though none of the confidence showed in her face. She still looked terrified.

I gasped for air, as though it would give relief to the pain. It didn't, of course. I looked away from her as well, for it would be just that much more difficult to watch her face. "Bella," The name quivered in my voice. "I think… we should see other people." I said them as coherently as I could, but it still seemed like the world had come crashing down on me, not her. Her face went through a series of emotions; shock, confusion, worry, fear, realization, understanding, finally pain. If she thought she could stop me by looking like that, she was dead right.

"W-what?" She whispered. I knew she had heard me, she just wanted to confirm it.

"I feel… I think we've grown apart, and it's time to see other people. It would be better for you," Oh, crap. If she didn't clue into the lie now…

"You-you don't love me?" She gasped in a quiet voice.

Ah, how I'd believed I was prepared for this question. It knocked the air out of me. I wanted to run to her, tell her I was lying, that I would never let her go, as long as I lived. I couldn't say that, of course. "N-no… no, I don't." I stuttered. Oh, if only she knew _how_ big a lie that was. I loved her _too_ much, rather than not at all.

"You've been lying to me?!" She said, voice gaining volume.

No, but I am now, "No, I did love you, but now…"

"Now you don't?!"

I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes. I didn't reopen them. "No. No, Bella Swan, I do not love you anymore."

"I love you," She whispered. I didn't open my eyes, to see the tears I could hear falling on her beautiful face. It would tear the shreds of me apart. "_I love you,"_ She whispered again, in her ragged, tearful voice.

"_I love you more,_" I said, though it was too quick and quiet for her to hear me, or have any way of knowing I said it. I still hadn't opened my eyes, but I could no longer feel her presence. I opened them slowly, to find she wasn't there anymore. There were footprints though, she had walked back toward her house. I couldn't help it; I broke down. At least she had taken it better than I thought. I had expected anger, more tears, questions. At least now she could be happy, have her own life. I would watch out for her, though. I couldn't stop loving her, and caring for her, so I would save her, if I had to. Maybe Mike Newton would save her. I imagined him giving her CPR, doing it wrong, when I would come in and leisurely rip him out of the way, before carrying on as though I didn't know her. _Why would she need CPR?_ I thought suddenly, urgently. It was a figment of my imagination, I then remembered. I would always love her; I realized then. There would be nobody else.

_Ae Fond Kiss; Robert Burns._

_Ae fond kiss, and then we sever;  
Ae fareweel, alas, for ever!  
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,  
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.  
Who shall say that Fortune grieves him,  
While the star of hope she leaves him?  
Me, nae cheerful twinkle lights me;  
Dark despair around benights me._

_I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy,  
Naething could resist my Nancy:  
But to see her was to love her;  
Love but her, and love for ever.  
Had we never lov'd sae kindly,  
Had we never lov'd sae blindly,  
Never met-or never parted,  
We had ne'er been broken-hearted._

_Fare-thee-weel, thou first and fairest!  
Fare-thee-weel, thou best and dearest!  
Thine be ilka joy and treasure,  
Peace, Enjoyment, Love and Pleasure!  
Ae fond kiss, and then we sever!  
Ae fareweeli alas, for ever!  
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,  
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee._

**AN: First of all, thankyou for my reviews! They were very positive, and I was **_**very**_** surprised to get some so soon! Oh, it just tugged at my heartstrings! xD Thankyou, Vampire Archangel & MarLuvsTheTeddyBear! **

**I don't know why I put 'Ae Fond Kiss' in, I love the poem, and I think it suits the story. Sorry to those who don't understand the Scottish slang that much, pm me if you really want to know any words (: Don't you think it's a fitting poem? :D **

**Thanks again, readers and reviewers, if you haven't already, you could review if you want? Or if you just wanna? :P**

**Rachee (: x**


	3. Wakening

Awake; at last. Not in the way I remembered and loved from when I was human; light shining through thin curtains, birds singing in the summer days of Chicago, carelessness as I arose for another day in my life. No, this awakening was darker, and it was far from peaceful. I was being forced to return to life, my family had enough of me, and the way I was. I was thankful to them, more than anything, as they had granted me time away from _her_, that... _girl_ I had broken so long ago. Okay, a few weeks ago. At least I had time away from that. Now it was time to go back, to face the hatred, despair she surely felt. And cover my own. I was stupid to think this would work. I had been warned by the very same caring, loving family, and I had turned my back on reason. As far as my family had seen, Bella was doing fine, getting on with her life, except from the fact she often looked like a stuffed corpse, not actually alive. That was a _fantastic_ image; it made me look forward to the upcoming days at school.

"Edward!" Alice said emotionlessly, walking into my room. "School in one hour." She walked back out again. I remembered a time when she was happier around me, though it seemed distant. It was when Bella was with us. With a sigh, I got up and looked around me. I was ready to go now, get this over with, but I was a little afraid. Plus, I couldn't go without the others, the Volvo had suffered beyond repairs. Rosalie had seemed a little smug when I couldn't get the engine out of it, but not so smug when I threw it at her. So, basically I was stuck here for another hour. Thoughts were dangerous, I discovered soon after I had left Bella. They could tear you apart worse than the actions themselves. I welcomed the thoughts, they were free to destroy me; if nothing else could.

Another head popped in the doorway. Esme. "Are you coming downstairs, sweetie?" She asked warmly. I could have got annoyed at her, till I heard in her thoughts she was trying very hard not to break down at the sight of me. I sighed, and nodded. This would be my first time out of my room since Alice and Emmett found me in the forest, so many weeks ago. Everything seemed bright; yet dull, if that makes sense. I the light was different to the candlelight in my room, yet it was nothing compared to the shining presence of Bella. Downstairs, everyone was waiting on me in the main room. As soon as Alice saw me in proper light, she 'tsked' loudly. I didn't look to see the problem.

"Edward." She said quickly. "What if Bella knows you're not over her?" She said abruptly, no respect to my reaction.

"She won't know," I sighed, trying to be detached, but failing miserably. I sounded like I was giving a death wish.

Alice laughed. "Pah, yeah, okay. Either you've been emotionally –and physically- dead for a few weeks, or one of us has had a go at punching your eyes out."

"Alice!" Esme hissed.

"Well," She glowered in response. "When was the last time you went hunting, Edward?" She asked, almost as proof to Esme.

I didn't answer. "Shall we head off...?" Emmett said, standing up and stretching.

"Sure," Rosalie said, eager to avoid argument, for a change. We took Rosalie's BMW, because the alternative was unavailable. As soon as we got to the school, I could hear the mental drivel already. _Edward Cullen_ this, _Bella Swan _that. I kept my head down, and never looked up for any signs of her. If I tried to avoid her, maybe it would last long enough till one of us got over it. Maybe one day at dawn I would magically not want her anymore.

A few times, walking through the halls I would notice her scent, but I tried not to acknowledge it; all humans smell the same. Freesias, lilac and strawberries had no place at a school. At lunch, I didn't bother with props, I probably wouldn't eat them even if they _were_ appetising. My family was silent, as far as I bothered to care. I'm sure a few conversations went on without my knowing, why not? That was when it happened; Mike Newton and his gang. I would have to admire their bravery, if I could admire anything but... nothing.

"Hey, _Cullen_." He said, full teenage attitude in his voice. He didn't need to speak, I knew why he was here. "We hear that you broke up with Bella?" He carried on. I closed my eyes, chin on my folded hands. I could have easily been sleeping. "And we want to know why you hurt her," I didn't answer him. "Cullen?" He said, and my eyes snapped open. I didn't look at Mike once. Instead, I grabbed the apple that had been thrown at me; by Alice, I found out from her thoughts. _Get rid of the creep_. She was repeating in her head. I twisted it between my hands gently, as I spoke.

"Sometimes, the forbidden fruit is always the sweetest, don't you think, Michael? The thing you can't have is always the thing you want most... The thing that tempts your inner..._ monster_, if you will. Is that something you can let go?" Ah well, I had been the most honest with _Mike,_ of all people. I just hoped he wouldn't go tell Bella. As I thought that, I twisted the apple with too much strength, and the opposite hemispheres collided. There was a neat little split in the apple. This freaked him out a considerable amount, and he forgot my speech. They walked back to their table, where I'm sure Bella was. I had Biology next, with Bella. I closed my eyes, and took deep breaths. When I opened my eyes again, I realized my family had gone. I got up and walked out of the lunch hall.

In class there was someone in my old seat, next to Bella. I nearly sighed in relief, when the teacher saw me come in. "Louisa, back to your _own_ seat," He said, scowling at the blonde girl chatting away to the people at the tables around my own. _Perfect, just perfect._ I went to take my seat beside Bella. All of her lovely, chocolate brown hair was covering her face, so I couldn't see her properly. Now that she was here, only a small part of me was thankful for that. The majority of me wanted to brush it out of her face, and just look into her beautiful brown eyes, and never move again. Throughout the class, we never spoke, but there was a large pile of tissues, slowly making their way onto my desk. She was crying. Oh, for the love of Esme, could she make this any harder? No, she wasn't making it harder, I was. My hand was clasped into a tight fist, till I could feel my nails scraping the skin on my palm. I wished they would draw blood. Bella was still crying. If she didn't stop, I would end up confessing the lie, and kiss her. This was painful, _too_ painful. _Please stop. Please stop._ Before I knew it, I was humming her lullaby. _What?! NO!_ But I couldn't stop. She had to stop crying, those inferior tears could be the downfall of her future. I knew she could hear it, for half a second, she was going hysterical. Her breathing hitched, and her pulse went up. I was making it worse. Fortunately, after the hysterical bout she settled bit, still silently sobbing. This was impossible. I was leaving Forks, no matter what the rest of my family thought. How did they expect me to sit next to Bella, crying her heart out? They didn't. They wanted me to fail, they wanted Bella to be a vampire. This was impossible. There was no way out. Bella wouldn't take me back, the state she was in. I'd just be messing with her head.

"Mr. Cullen?" Mr Banner said. My head shot up immediately. "Would you mind escorting Miss Swan to the office?" _Why, what happened?!!_ I instantly looked over at her, she was still crying.

"Yes, sir." I nodded. _NO!_ I stood up, and a second later Bella did too. She turned round quickly to gather all her used tissues, and threw them in the bin. Which she tripped over a second later. I defied all human nature laws then, catching her. That was probably one of the fastest vampire speeds. She had barely tripped. I didn't look into her eyes as I set her upright again, in fact, I looked right past her. Nobody had noticed my inhuman speeds, amazingly. We walked in silence for a long time, I began to wonder why the science classrooms were so far away from the office, they were a lot more dangerous than English classes, at least.

"What happened to your eyes?" She blurted suddenly, making it sound more like a statement than a question. I have to say, I was shocked she was speaking to me.

"Emmett and I were fighting." I didn't dare tell her I hadn't hunted. She probably guessed that, anyway.

"He got you?"

"Why not?"

"No reason," She said, looking away. I decided to pretend not to be different from any other human. Obviously, this confused her. "How have you been?" She said, continuing on as though I was any other person.

_Suicidal, depressed, _"Fine. You?"

"Fine," She replied, letting a tear fall. I could barely see her eyes. "Up to much?"

_Hmm... absolutely nothing._ "Not a lot, the usual. What about you?"

"Same. Work and stuff."

"Huh," I sighed.

"Yeah." She sighed too.

"So... why do you need to go to the office?" I asked politely.

"Broke my leg." She said bitterly. I winced. She was pointing out how blatantly obvious it was. You get sent out of class now for emotional breakdowns? Ouch. That winded me as much as her question had, in the forest. I tried to take a deep breath, but it didn't work.

We walked past Alice's class, only to see her standing outside. She smiled at us. I was about to ask why she was outside, but she answered me first. _Got myself sent out, couldn't miss this._ She grinned. I was going to go for her when her teacher called on her.

"Miss Cullen, you can come back in now,"

"Bye, Bella. Bye, Edward." She smiled again, and walked back in.

Bella said nothing. We got to the office soon after that, the Ms. Cope the receptionist told her to go wait in the medical room. I was going to leave then, but Ms. Cope suggested I stayed with her, to say what was wrong. I hardly thought it was necessary, anyone, medical degree or not could tell she was emotionally unstable. I was going to walk into the room first, to explain why she was here, and leave again, but Bella had other ideas. She went to walk in first, and our hands brushed together. Just that slight touch, and it was the very same electricity from those first days. The heat from her hand burnt into the chill of my own. It felt like she'd given me a static shock, something I hadn't felt since I was human, vampire's don't get them, because they don't conduct. Bella obviously felt it too, she looked up at me, and I looked into her big, wonderful brown eyes for the first time in a while. I got trapped in them, lost in the beauty and warmth. She looked up at me like I'd just insulted her. I felt sick again. My hand still burned from where our hands collided.

"You can go now," She whispered, fresh tears pooling in her eyes. I nodded, and walked away before _I_ broke down.

**AN: 6 reviews! :D 6! SIX! On my first story, I got my first review quite far into it. Pleased much? Thanks guyssssss! x  
Aww, aren't they sweet? How romantic of Edward :P I'm glad the poem went down well, I actually got it on my iPod now, sung by Eddi Reader, it's good, youtube it :D  
Maybe go into Bella's POV next chapter...? Tell me what you think. I'll focus on my other story, till I decide :D Funny chapter in other story, nice break (:  
Maybe Alice will meddle in this one... maybe not Alice...? Heh heh,**

**Rachee (: x**


	4. Awful

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, or any books in the series. I don't own characters :( Though I did make them break up :(**

**BPOV.**

Awful, yet deserved, that's all I can say. Of course, I loved Edward, with the full capacity of my heart. Of course, it was never enough. He's a 100 odd year old vampire, and I'm some 18 year old _girl_. I didn't think he would love me, which was why it was so amazing to hear that he did. And he did, I could never doubt him, not even now, when he didn't love me anymore. He would get bored of me. For him to love me like I loved him would only to be using a tiny portion of his heart, and he could give his whole heart to someone who deserved it. He couldn't help but break my heart in the process of moving on. Maybe, if he would give me mine back, I could love someone else. When I first came to this school, there were plenty of friendly people. People who had asked me out, but I'd always turned them down, 'I'm with Edward'. Like I thought I'd be with him forever. Actually, yes, I did think that.

I was actually surprised that nobody else had ditched me at school. For the past few weeks, I had been like a zombie. Not one of the Cullens had even acknowledged me, and they were all –but one- there. It was like after Edward had broken up with me, so had his family. Had I done something wrong? Was Edward just letting me off guilt free? They had all assured me that the incident that happened on my birthday wasn't my fault, what if it was, and they didn't like me anymore? I put my head on my folded arms, and looked into the shadow I'd created. I wondered why Edward hadn't been at school. Was it my fault? Was he scared that when he did come back I'd beg him to take me back? Ugh.

"Bella?" Came the voice of Angela Weber, one of my friends at school. I was glad to have a friend like her, but it was just like coming back to earth from heaven. I got a taster of what it was like to have the best boyfriend, best friends and altogether an amazing family that loved me. Now, nothing else could compare. "Are you alright?" She knew I wasn't; this behaviour wasn't unusual. "Don't you want lunch?" _Had I ever after what happened?_

Of course, today had to be the day he came back. Mike Newton, Tyler Crowley and Eric Yorkie decided to have 'words' with him. I hadn't been able to convince them against it, unfortunately. They were going to make idiots out of themselves; more so. I looked up quickly, to see them standing in a triangle formation, Mike at the front. I could see Edward's face from here. That face was _too_ beautiful. Right now, his eyes were shut, and I was surprised he wasn't holding onto the bridge of his nose, he looked so frustrated. Mike spoke again. I again wished to be a vampire; I could hear them then. Suddenly, Edward's eyes snapped open, and he spoke very quickly. He had an apple in his hands, a bright red apple. When he finished speaking, it was split in two. The Mike and the others retreated soon after that, and came back to sit at our table. Jessica and Mike were still kind of together, and today he sat next to her and kissed her. Then, he turned to me.

"Sorry, Bella. I didn't quite get what he said..." Mike said apologetically. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Yeah, and then he did that crazy thing with the apple!" Eric exclaimed. "Did you see it? He twisted it like it was play-doh!"

"I didn't want you to talk to him, I'm okay with it," I said, fighting hard against the tears in my eyes. I _never_ wanted to cry in front of them. Angela noticed, and she gave them the death glare, before trying to comfort me. The bell rung then; and I had Biology next. Damn. I would certainly look a mess to him. I took my regular seat, and waited for the torture. How could I sit next to him and not want to kiss him, or hug him, or anything?

Louisa Platt was standing next to the empty seat, talking to someone nearby. She pulled the chair out and sat down, so she didn't have to stand and chat. Edward came in the room a minute later. The teacher noticed, and shouted at Louisa. "Louisa, back to your _own_ seat." He said, looking at her. She got up and walked away. The next occupant of the chair was so much better, but more painful. Good thing I'd brought tissues. I put my hair between us, just like that first day, when he'd given me angry glares. I was embarrassed and scared then too. We never spoke through the whole lesson, thankfully, but my careless eyes still betrayed my emotions. My page was tear splattered, and I could hardly see, it was like trying to look through a puddle. I had got tissues out, but they did no good. Every tear I wiped away was replaced, quicker than the last. They were beginning to pile up on my desk. I could easily have a really bad cold, that's all. I looked up at the pile. _Yeah, right_. Suddenly, the most beautiful and harmful sound came from beside me. Edward was humming _my_ lullaby. If it was still mine. _Why?!_ Why was he humming my lullaby, of all songs?! Did he want to hurt me more? Such a horrible, wonderful creature. I would happily die like this. My hysterical moment was over, but the damage was done. The ink from my pen had run down the page, you couldn't read it anymore; I had run out of tissues, and the tears were freefalling now. Plus, my heavy breathing had attracted some unwanted attention. Mr. Banner came over.

"Miss Swan, are you alright?" He asked, appraising my tear streaked face. For once, I could admit I wasn't. I shook my head. "Mr. Cullen? Would you mind escorting Miss Swan to the office?"

"Yes, sir."He nodded. For once, I was annoyed that Mike hadn't been chosen. He would be so much easier to be around. I walked around my table and toward the door, till I remembered my tissues. I clumsily grabbed them together and threw them into the bin as I walked past it. Or should I say over it. I tripped on the same bin, and out of nowhere I was caught. Edward, of course. Who else?! I stared at him as he made sure I wouldn't trip over it again, and he didn't look at me once. He had dark purple circles around his eyes, and the irises were pitch black. He was thirstier than I had ever seen him before. Why? He let go of me almost instantly, and carried on walking. It was a long walk from the science rooms to the office, and neither of us spoke. I decided to try sound brave, I broke the silence first.

"What happened to your eyes?" I asked. I didn't want to go straight out and ask him why he hadn't been hunting.

"Emmett and I were fighting," He said blankly. Vampires don't get black eyes; it's a bruise. Plus, even if they could, Emmett wouldn't have got a shot in like that; Edward's power would have stopped him.

"He got you?"

"Why not?" He shrugged.

"No reason," He obviously wanted to pretend he was what he wasn't. He was pretending I didn't know his secret. I should too. "How have you been?" I asked, like asking about the weather. He could have been anyone to me.

He considered it for a minute, then spoke. "Fine. You?" He was probably better than _fine_, he just didn't want to make me feel that bad about myself. Too late.

"Fine," I said, same as him. My tears begged to differ. "Up to much?"

Again, he thought about his answer. "Not a lot, the usual. What about you?"

"Same. Work and stuff."

"Huh..." He sighed.

"Yeah," I tried wiping the tears away with my sleeves. No use.

"So... Why do you need to go to the office?" He asked indifferently. Like he didn't know. He was basically dragging my heart behind us on a leash.

"Broke my leg," I said, heavy sarcasm. We walked for a long time in silence after that. We walked past Mr. Laurie's class where Alice of all people was standing outside. She smiled at me, and I looked away quickly. If she was going to block me out, I was going to block her out. It's not like all her friendships are tied to her brother's relationships.

"Miss Cullen, you can come back in now," Said Mr. Laurie from inside the classroom.

"Bye, Bella, bye, Edward." She said, walking back inside. At the office, the receptionist told us to go to the medical room. Why did Edward have to come? As long as he was here, it wouldn't get any better. When we walked into the room, my hand brushed against his. It was like an electric shock. Though his touch was like ice, it still burned like fire. I looked up quickly, to see if he felt it too. He looked at me as well, and didn't look away. I looked deep into his beautiful black eyes, and I was melted to the spot. We were stuck in each other's gazes. But... he didn't love me? He might have just been messing me about. I hoped he wasn't, of course, but I wasn't stupid enough to let that hope get to my head.

"You can go now," I whispered. He walked away without another word, leaving me alone with the school nurse. To be honest, this had nothing to do with medicine; except from the doctor in that family.

"You okay, sweetie?" She asked lovingly, though it couldn't be as kind, friendly as Esme.

"I just want to go home," I sighed.

"Okay, honey. Can you tell me why? Are you not feeling well... are you hurt?"

"No, I'm just... really depressed today," I mumbled. "I don't think I can take it," She looked alarmed, as though she thought I was suicidal. Ha, I wish. There were other people I had to live for; Charlie, Renee, my friends. Plus, how would it look if I killed myself after Edward dumped me? _It would look_ _honest_.

"Maybe you just need a day to rest," She said, and got me excused for the rest of the day. It was surprising I could drive myself home; my emotional strength had taken a big hit, seeing him again. At home, I just ran up to my room, and crashed onto my bed. I didn't go back downstairs the whole night.

**AN: Here is your BPOV. I haven't read over it,, hopefully it's alright :D will do more in BPOV later on, perhaps. **

**What do you think, faithful readers? xD **

**Thanks for reviewing & reading, as usual. **

**Got any ideas, peoples? I have a couple, but I wanna know what you think! :D**

**Rachee (: x**


	5. Rosalie

The week back at school was hell. My family would glare at me; all the time, Bella's friends would glare at me. Bella would _cry_ at me; which was by far worse. People at school had _already_ begun hitting on her, and it was annoying to hear their thoughts when asking her. She always declined, which made me feel better, but worse at the same time. I just tried not to feel _anything_ anymore, it felt better. I still hadn't hunted yet, much to my family's annoyance.

_Why don't you go sit next to Bella today, Edward?_ Alice thought at lunch. I looked up at her apathetically, and shook my head. _Oh, well. I think Rosalie will._ She smiled and looked away, to the rest of the family. I looked around at them, for the first time in a while. None of them seemed to be planning on going to see Bella... Why would _Rosalie_? She would rather _kill_ Bella than leave Forks! She noticed my stare, and turned round and to smile sweetly at me. What... the? Never mind. She wouldn't go to Bella. That just wouldn't be fair. That just wouldn't be _Rosalie_. I relaxed, as much as I could. With Bella around, I could never truly relax. I closed my eyes and thought of her, the memories I had of her. It wasn't as good as the real thing, but at least I didn't stare at her now, possibly endanger her again. The meadow was beautiful; she was amazing; it was a wonderful day.

As usual, an obnoxious Rosalie disturbed me. _Ooh, she's friendly with Mike, huh? Imagine if he goes out with her, hearing his thoughts. Imagine him spilling his thoughts about everything they would do that you never could. That would be _sick_. Though I hope she has better sense than to go out with _Mike_. Then again, she went out with a loser like _you_. I'll bet she's hurting. _You_ dumped _her,_ after all._ I hissed at her, but she got up and walked away. She dumped her tray, and instead of walking out of the lunch hall, she fulfilled Alice's _prophecy. _She walked over to the dead girl, sitting with friends, but alone in her misery. Except me, of course. She raised her lifeless brown eyes to stare at the demon approaching her. I would have stopped Rosalie, but that would mean going to Bella. What would she think if I forbade the rest of my family from seeing her? What would she think if I broke down at the slightest shove from Rosalie? I sat and listened to the conversation, and Rosalie's thoughts and plans.

"Hello, Bella." Rosalie smiled a true, honest smile. The humans surrounding Bella cleared off. Rosalie was far too intimidating, to _anyone_. Bella was shocked, and obviously scared. She didn't speak a word in response. "How have you been, hon?" She said, injecting as much warmth and friendliness into her bell-tone, yet snakelike voice. Her question was averted, though Bella still seemed desperate for Rosalie to like her.

"How are _you_?" She asked blankly.

"Bella," Rosalie said with a slight fierce tone, "Never bother about _me_. How are _you_ doing? Seriously?" I was shocked by Rosalie's response, she barely cared for anyone but herself. And especially not Bella. I tried reading her thoughts, _Nice try, jackass._ She growled internally. She carried on thinking, as though she thought I wasn't listening. She judged Bella's reactions carefully, every twitch, every frown. She was making a comparison… to what I couldn't tell. One thing was clear; she didn't like me. That was understandable; _I_ didn't like me.

"I'm okay, I guess," Bella said, though it sounded more like a question.

"You know Bella, you can be honest with me. I know I have never really acted like I liked you, but I swear, you can trust me with anything." She smiled.

Bella just stared at her uncertainly, eyes narrowing. "Seriously, Rosalie, I don't know what to think," Her voice was raised at the start, high pitched; she was angry. It faded away into a sigh in the end. Rosalie reached across the table to gently hold her hand. Bella flinched at the touch. _What the hell was up with Rosalie?_ My family seemed to be thinking the same. I turned to Jasper; he could sense no menace or malice in Rosalie's actions. Alice only knew _what_ she would do, not _why._ I guess it was down to me. Unfortunately, she was spilling nothing. She really seemed to _care _for Bella. What the _hell?_ Emmett looked pleased that they were finally getting along, but just as confused as the rest of us.

_Royce King._

She spilled. Was she comparing me to her abusive ex-fiancé? We were surely both monsters, but I had never done anything like that to Bella. I would _never. _

_All right. Now you know. Before you ask, I'm not comparing you and him, I'm comparing Bella and I. When I was with Royce, it was hellish. After he attacked me, I went through an even worse hell. If I hadn't found Emmett… even after my revenge, I might have still been like…_ Her thoughts flashed to Bella's face now. _She is hurting. She needs help, and if you won't save her, _I will.

Ah yes. When she was changed, she hated everything about herself. She couldn't be human. She hated her fiancé, Royce, though she was single-minded, even then. All she wanted was a child, and Royce could give her the happy family she craved. When he attacked her, she lost both; her humanity – her ability to have children, and her happiness.

"Rosalie," Bella said, her voice shook in sadness and fear. "I don't get it. You hate me when your family liked me, now when they hate me, you want to speak and be friendly to me?"

Rosalie's laughed in her tinkling voice. "Oh, Bella, they don't hate you. And I have good reason to like you," I snarled audibly. My family knew why, but they glared at me. They _didn't_ hate her. A few humans from nearby tables jerked around to look at me, too. They looked terrified, though I hardly paid them attention. _She has good reason? Oh, God. She's not going to get Bella _inseminated_, is she?_ Emmett said, eyes bulging in shock. I shocked them all by laughing.

"I _don't _think so somehow, Emmett."

"What is it?" Alice asked.

"He thinks she wants Bella to have her _children_!" I said, but the humor was gone from my voice. There was a snarl from Rosalie's table. _Ahaha, hilarious. If you would hit Emmett for me, please. _I didn't bother.

"What is your _good reason_?" Bella asked, though there was no anger in her voice, just deadened curiosity.

"You'll find out. Say… You don't know much about me, do you? Unless _jackass_ has told you," She hissed, thinking of me.

"Um… no?" Bella squeaked. "What does that have to do with anything? As far as I know, you still _hate me._"

"Maybe if you knew better about me, you would understand. If you'd like, I'll tell you," She turned round to glare at me quickly.

"Does… does _he… _mind that you are talking to me?" Bella whispered, stealing glances at me.

"He wishes it was him," Rosalie replied, smiling sadly. A snarl erupted through the lunch hall. My family stared, _all_ the humans stared at our desk. Rosalie hissed in response; and not quietly either. _Why did she say that? _

_I would quite like her to know the truth,_ Rosalie stated. Bella just stared at her confusedly. "But…" She shook her head. "That doesn't made sense."

"Ah, a lot of things don't nowadays," Rosalie smiled. "He loves you, he doesn't, he loves you? Back when I was human, it was clear when people did or didn't. At least back then, there were reasons for it all." She said fiercely. The bell rang then. "Oh, damn. I _really_ do want to talk to you, Bella. Can I meet you after school?" Bella nodded shakily, still confused and scared. Somehow, she couldn't deny Rosalie anything. That _demon_ would be her downfall. And mine. Though she couldn't look exactly at me without turning, she glared in my direction. "And if _he_ gives you trouble in your next class…" She got up and walked next to Bella, to whisper in her ear. I couldn't hear what she said. She didn't think about it, either. I ground my teeth in worry and frustration. If Rosalie found it funny when I couldn't destroy the Volvo, I'm sure she _would_ find it funny when I demolished _hers._

_Break my car, I'll break some _other _things,_ She mentally snarled.

Suddenly, Alice jumped up, staring between Rosalie and I furiously. "She… _she _can't!" _Don't you _dare_ let her break _that_, or I'll break _you_ Edward Cullen._ She thought angrily. I couldn't guess what would make _Alice_ so angry, but maybe it would be in my best interests to leave the car.

"What will she break?" Jasper asked her, looking at me. He was the only one who wasn't angry at me for leaving her. He thought it was his fault; still.

Alice looked around at him, then her gaze fell back on me. She mumbled something unintelligible. "What?" Emmett said.

She mumbled louder, her words crashing into each other. "Alice, they can't hear you," I said apathetically.

"Yes, we can." Jasper replied, looking sadly at me.

"What will she break?" I asked all three of them this time.

"The… the… the engagement ring… you were going to give Bella…" Emmett said, uncharacteristically shy.

"And she's going to tear the dress!" Alice cried.

"Let her. It won't happen," I sighed. Alice coughed loudly, and when I looked back up at her, she had an eyebrow raised and was staring at me skeptically. "It isn't," I growled.

"Come on," Emmett sighed. "We'll be late for class."

"I'm not going," I grumbled. All the other Biology classes had been _dreadful._

"Yes you are," Rosalie said abruptly, grabbing my shirt collar as she walked past. I made a note to ask her more about her _intentions_ -why she was hanging around with Bella- when I got home.

As usual, Biology _was_ hell. Though Bella didn't cry anymore, she was just _dead._ It was terrifying. I also felt the need to touch her skin; just like I had when we were 'friends'. Maybe another one of those static shocks would bring her back to life. I couldn't possibly think like that, though. It would be going back on my plans, my way of saving her. It wasn't fair. I didn't learn what Rosalie had told her to do if I gave her 'trouble' either. Maybe the only way was to give her 'trouble'. Though, after that I would probably be tempted to give _Rosalie_ 'trouble', Alice or no Alice. Worth a try.

"How have you been, Bella?" I asked politely, as though I barely knew her. It _did_ hurt; I more than anything wanted to hold her then, tell her I love her.

She turned, swishing her hair out of her face. Her scent breezed toward me, nowhere near as enticing as it was attractive. Though her eyes were still dead, and her voice was still rather lifeless, she smiled at me, though I could see the effort behind it; the tears desperate to get out of her captivating eyes. Though I didn't pay attention to _that._ "Did you say something, Edward?" She said in a comatose sweet voice. I didn't –couldn't- reply. I always knew she dazzled me, and she often remarked that _I _dazzled _her_, but this must be her _trying._ I wanted to nod, or say _something_; it must have looked foolish to be staring at her so intensely. She stared at me, too, and I swear I could see emotion returning, there was a slight sparkle in her eyes, a lingering sadness, yet desire. I could relate to those emotions. She looked away suddenly, a chocolate brown hair curtain concealed her face once more. I still looked at her, blinking frantically. What happened there? I thought my resolve to keep away from her was clear and unwavering, yet here I was, gazing lovingly into her eyes.

_Rosalie._ My marveling daze faded, only to be replaced by annoyance to my 'sister'. I'm sure there were no laws against killing _her._ She no doubt set this up. There was no way Bella would have thought of doing _that_ by herself. There was no way she would _want_ to do that without encouragement. Perhaps tomorrow, her car would _mysteriously_ stop working, and there would be no way to fix it…

Other than that, the class went by uneventfully. I still couldn't look away from Bella too much though, but she didn't seem to notice. I _hoped_ she didn't, anyway. As soon as the bell rang for the end of class, I dashed away as quickly as deemed possible for humans. Spanish next, _wonderful_. At least I could request Emmett's permission to kill his wife, or infuriate her, though I doubted he would. In class, Emmett and I sat together, as usual. Two freaks. Emmett didn't question my manic expression, though he was considering it. _Dude, what's up _now_?_ He asked, _trying_ to sound a little sympathetic. Of course, he thought I was crazy to bother leaving her in the first place.

"May I kill Rosalie?" I whispered in vampire silence and speed. He turned to look at me, a wide variety of expressions on his face. I saw amusement, confusion, anger, and a bunch of others.

_No, not exactly. Why?_

"Not exactly?!" I laughed silently, without humor. "What about just piss her off?"

_Why?!_

"I'll tell you later."

_Well, she gets annoyed at me, like _all_ the time, so I doubt you'd be much different. As a matter of fact, you get on her nerves _too_. Go for it, but don't tell her _I_ told you to. Angry sex is better than…_ I blocked him out then, I didn't need to hear _that_. Mrs. Goff was rambling away in Spanish, her grammar was _way_ off… so I let my mind wander. Thinking of Bella and I was _not_ a good idea… so instead, I did something worse. I did as I used to, I watched her P.E class through Mike's thoughts. Hockey. _That's_ perfectly safe, nothing can go wrong in _hockey,_ of course not. I mean, it's not like you're allowed to raise the stick higher than waist-level… no way she could be knocked unconscious… But they do hit legs. And feet. And what about the ball? It flies around wherever it wants, just like when Mike Newton hit it there…

Damn kid. He was hardly watching Bella _at all_. Then again, she was defending in his team, and he was right up front. I didn't want to see the life of Mike, I wanted to make sure _Bella_ was okay. The ball was in the other court. _Now_ she was important. _Defend the goals, Bella._ He thought, as though she wasn't already _trying_. She seemed to fear for her life, almost as much as I did. She gathered confidence, and lowered the stick to stop the ball. Just as Lauren Mallory ploughed it toward her. In her mind, Bella was the only obstacle between her and a goal, and she _did_ _not _like Bella Swan. She whacked the bright yellow ball with all her strength, and it _very nearly_ missed Bella's kneecap. There were two simultaneous snaps; back in Spanish class. One was obvious, the pen I'd been holding was in pieces, that accounted for one of the noises. The other was only obvious to Emmett and I. The chair I'd been holding onto, so not to run to gym class and snap all the hockey sticks there had a large chunk of plastic missing. The large chunk of plastic in my hand was missing another part of chair. Emmett scowled at me; but said nothing. _Told you so…_ He thought, rolling his eyes. I watched that class for the rest of _my_ class, and nearly died of relief when the bell rang for the end of the day. I carried on listening for Bella through Mike's thoughts, when they left the gym. He was building up to ask her out again, after being rejected last week.

"So um… How've you been, Bella?" He asked nervously.

"Good, you?" She asked blankly.

"Yeah, well um… I've been great, yeah, good, um…" He took a deep breath. "Bella, I was wondering if you'd like to go out tomorrow? It's a Saturday… so…?" Just then, Rosalie came into view, and appeared next to Bella at more than human speed. Mike stared at her, wide eyed, "I'll… catch you later… Bella." He gawked at the harpy in front of them once more, and stumbled away. For once, I was thankful for Rosalie. But I really shouldn't be. I watched through Rosalie's eyes next, she was definitely up to something…

"Bella, there you are," She smiled. "Been looking for you for _ages_."

Bella seemed stunned at that little piece of information. I think our thoughts mirrored. _Why was she looking for _Bella? I was at the car by that time. I was going to lean against it and wait for Rosalie, but I realized Alice was already inside; in the driver's seat. She leaned over to open the front passenger seat door. Confusedly, I got inside.

"What are you doing, and how did you get inside?" I asked. She threw me a small, thin hairclip.

"I got in with that." She said, before leaning over. "What I'm doing is going home." She was fiddling with the wires under the steering wheel.

"You're hot-wiring her car." I said, indifferently. "Why not just wait for Rosalie?"

"Rosalie isn't taking her car home today." Just then, Emmett and Jasper walked up to the car. They seemed as surprised as I was to see us in the car. Alice sighed, and opened their doors too. "Get in," She smiled. They obliged quickly, before going back to the wires. A second later, the car roared into life. "There," She grinned, resting her hands on the steering wheel.

"Why didn't she just give you the keys at lunch?" I asked.

"She hadn't made her mind up yet, she won't mind though."

"How is she getting home?" Emmett asked after a minute.

"Running,"

"_Why_?"

"Because we're taking her car, dumbass," Alice laughed.

"_Why_ are we taking her car?"

Alice looked at me, in a way she hoped to be inconspicuous. "She doesn't want us lingering around."

"What is she doing?" Jasper asked.

Alice groaned. "She's going to Bella's house, okay?!"

"What?! Stop the car, Alice." I said. Whatever Rosalie was up to, there was no way it was going to be good.

"No, Edward. We're going home. Besides, you wouldn't disturb Bella, would you?"

"I would, if it will stop her getting hurt in the future. Let me out, Alice."

"Not a chance." She grinned again, and put her foot down on the accelerator. There was a click as the doors locked. Everyone, even Alice looked around the car.

Emmett grinned sheepishly. "I've always had a spare set of keys to this car,"

"Emmett!" Alice yelled. "You could've said."

"M'yeah, I could've." He laughed. I growled; I was locked in a car, while Rosalie was at Bella's house, possibly filling her with more dazzling tricks, or even _killing _her. Or even _changing_ her. The car windows were tempting, but Alice saw that happening, and her small arm came flying toward me, and smacked into my side.

"Try it, and I'll catch you," She warned menacingly. Great. I could do nothing but pray Bella would be safe with _Rosalie_.

**AN: There we gooooo,... I wonder what Rosalie's up to...? :P  
Idk if I like this chappie, tell me if you do, or don't :D**

**Maybe do a Bella's point of view next, or Rosalie's? (: What'ya think?**

**Rachee (: x**


	6. Date

**Rosalie POV**

"_I need you to be friends __with Bella," Alice said, sitting cross-legged on the floor in my room. I nearly dropped my magazine._

_"I'm sorry, what?!" I practically hissed. No way was I being friends with _Bella Swan.

_"I need you to become friends with Bella."_

_"_Why?!"

_She took a deep breath, and seemed to think. I didn't like that. "I had a vision. I don't know the details, but I do know that if our family stays close to her, nothing bad will happen. If we don't…"_

_"Something bad will happen to _who_ exactly? Us or _her?"

_"Both," She said bleakly. _

_"Can you see the definition of 'bad'?" I growled. _

_"Not really. I _can't_ see our futures without her. With her, I can, but there are lots of tiny splits of future there, too."_

_I rolled my eyes. Sometimes, I think she just makes up visions. "Why _me?"

_"Edward." She said simply. "He suspects too much when I hide my mind from him, but you cover things up all the time. He doesn't react well to Bella-related information, does he?"_

_"And I care, why?"_

_"Rosalie, if we lose Bella…" She warned. "Please, just hang around with her at school or something. It's not like I asked you to _marry_ her or anything." She giggled. I growled, and picked my magazine back up again. "Will you?"_

_"I'll think about it." _

_"Yay! Thank you so much, Rose!" She jumped up to peck my cheek. I felt like a big sister being asked to play with a little sister's Barbie dolls. _Bella Swan_. Ugh, lovely._

"You're family don't eat much, do they?" Bella's father Charlie asked. He didn't mean it in a bad way, I could tell that much, but it _was_ annoying. I smiled and shook my head as he dug into his… food. "Bella should be home soon. It was nice of you to wait on her to finish her shift." He smiled, a bit of food sauce on his face. I had to try my hardest not to vomit. When humans eat… it's disgusting.

"We have homework," I said politely.

"I thought you were in the year above Bella?" He said, slightly suspiciously. _Oh, like you could never know._

"We have the same homework. It's a mixed year class." I lied smoothly. If I were allowed one human death, I would probably kill him. No… that's not fair. It's only because I've spent so long in the same room as him.

"Bout time Bella had friends round… No offense to you or your family or anything, but when your brother left her, he really messed her up." His tone was fierce. "And then Alice leaves her too! I don't know what happened, but I'm sure it has something to do with that _Edward_. I haven't liked him much since they came back from Phoenix, y'know? I mean, I know he's your brother, but if I ever get a chance to speak to him…" He didn't finish his sentence. "I'm glad she's started hanging around with Jake though, he's good for her." Ah, yes. Dog-boy. Soon to be, at least. It's disgusting how you can smell the werewolf gene so early. It probably was a bad idea to let Bella hang around with him, but what could I say? I couldn't _forbid_ her from seeing him, and I couldn't exactly come with them, at least without killing him. "I can actually see their friendship being something more… I mean, I know Edward's your brother… but the guy's a crap bag. Bella needs someone like Jake." Though I hated Edward more than Charlie at the minute, his comments were beginning to get to me. Never, could a mongrel be better for Bella than my brother. And I think if Charlie knew Edward's reasons, he would support him with his own life. In fact, if Charlie knew _anything_, he would prefer Edward to Jacob Black. Stupid man. Making snide comments about my family?! No wonder I hadn't replied. "Come to think of it – Jacob called here earlier, looking for Bella."

"What?" I asked, trying not to sound angry – it was rather difficult.

"Yeah, kid's finally got the courage to ask her out." He grinned. I suppressed a hiss. There was no way that would be safe. Plus, Bella was nowhere near over Edward. Just then, Bella got home.

She walked past the door without saying anything to us. I silently stood up and followed her to her room. "Rosalie," She sighed as I walked in.

"How was work today?" I asked warmly. Living with Esme for nearly a century really does rub off on you.

"Good," She said dully, voice unconvincing. "Though I got asked out by Mike again," She sighed. Oh well, better than a dog. And Bella would have declined.

"What did you say?" I smirked, trying to hide a laugh. Mike would be lucky to ever date someone like Bella.

"I said yes," She sighed. It seemed like the whole world went quiet.

"What?!"

"I said yes. It's like the sixteenth time he's asked, and I'll never know. There's no point waiting on _someone_." We both knew who she meant. I was surprised she spoke like that in front of me, though it was no secret she was waiting.

"Oh, okay," Hopefully it wouldn't work. At first, I couldn't stand Bella. If I tried hanging around with Mike, I think I might combust. "When?"

"Saturday," She didn't sound pleased about it, really. Why bother? "Today's Thursday, right?"

"Yes,"

"Fantastic," she groaned.

"Are you not eating?" I asked, thinking about her father and his… food.

"Yes, he's taking me out to dinner." She said blankly.

"No, I meant tonight. Are you not having any food?"

"No. I'm actually tired, Rosalie. If I could see you tomorrow?" She sighed.

"Um… okay." I frowned, but did as she asked. I walked out her room and downstairs. Charlie looked as I walked by, but said nothing. When I got in my car, I could hear Bella crying. I wondered if she would get any sleep tonight, what with nightmares and all. I had stayed over at hers once, when she didn't know, just like Edward used to. It was disturbing. She seemed to go through her very own hell every night, and I'd only seen one night, from the outside of her mind. I was rather tempted to go home and beat Edward to a pulp, but I knew he could easily do that to himself in his own mind. Seriously, I do believe Jerry Springer could sort this out. How hard could it be?

When I got home, I received my daily hug from Alice. "Thank you for helping," She said into my clothing. I rolled my eyes and tried to get into the house. Inside, everyone was at their usual activities. Carlisle and Jasper were reading, Esme was looking through a home-ware catalogue, Emmett was playing on his computer game and Alice had been at the computer. Edward was upstairs, musing over his piano. I was going to go out to the cars; I had some mechanical work to do, but I decided against it. I could easily do that later. Instead, I went up to Edward's room. Every now and then there would be a quiet tapping on one key; the same note every time.

"Helloooo," I chimed, walking in. Goodness, I sounded like a mother waking up a lazy child. Sounded like a mother… ouch. He just looked at me blankly. He was not very partial to me, seeing as I was hanging about with Bella. And he couldn't stop _me_ from seeing her. "How's life?" He looked sarcastically up at me. "Well it's your bloody fault." I snapped, and went to sit next to him by the piano. "Composing again?" He gave a stiff nod. "May I hear?" Without a word, he rested his fingers on the keys. After a second, a soft, sweet melody erupted from the piano. His fingers never seemed to move, they were flitting across each key so quickly, yet the tune was slow. And it was sad; lots of minor chords. He finished it, and silently stared at the keys. "Magnificent," I smiled. I _knew_ what inspired such melancholy, but I daren't mention her. "What do you call it?"

"Nocturne," He smiled sadly, eyes still on the keys.

"Wow," I smiled, before playing the tune again, on a higher octave.

He shook his head, "Too high," He mumbled.

My fingers left the piano at once. "All right, 'Phantom-of-the-Opera'. Any other songs?"

"No, but I'm working on a few."

"Amazing, my brother will be a famous composer –when he grows up." I laughed. He didn't acknowledge –didn't care for- the double meaning. I sat with him for a while longer, as he messed around with song ideas. When I started to play the lullaby he composed for her, he threw me out. For something else to do, I walked back downstairs. Emmett and Jasper were now playing Wii Sports bowling; the only time when they could play with human strength. I sat down to redo my nails, paint them dark purple this time. I witnessed the Wii remote flying through the screen. I witnessed Esme's scream, then I watched as she scolded them both. I sighed; typical day.

It was Saturday, the day of Bella's date with _Mike Newton_. I was round at hers, as usual. She never came to my house –understandably. She looked like she was about to be delivered the death sentence, rather than go out with some spotty, nerdy teenager. Well, I would too. Actually, I wouldn't even go out with him. And if I did, I doubted he would survive. We were sitting in her room, she was doing her homework, as I talked to her. It was extra Biology. In other words –she was failing Biology. I wonder why; she always does well in her classes. I got a CD out of my bag, and put it in her stereo. It took a lot of effort to get this surreptitiously; it was not going to be a waste. A second later, the soft, sad melody of Nocturne began. I liked to think this would be a secret reminder to Bella that he still loved her… but I've been reading way too many romantic books recently. "Who composed this? It's good," She asked, and I could do nothing but answer her honestly.

"Edward composed it. I managed to get a recording,"

She was silent for a long time, perhaps in shock. "Good recording,"

"Yes. I don't care much for the song, but I suppose it means something to you?"

"It means nothing to me, Rosalie." She said robotically. Oh, God, she was crying again. What have I done this time? "It's a very sad tune," She noted, as though in an excuse for her tears.

"Yes, the composers' mood often affects the melody," _CRAP._ Okay, I can't think of that line when I get home. I can't be bothered with Edward being angry at me.

"I'm sure," She sighed, and I could detect a hint of sarcasm in her tone. "What are the genotypes again? Dominant and…?" She asked, getting back to her homework.

"Recessive," I sighed. "Your father says you've been having a good time hanging around with Jacob Black?" I tried not to sound invading, but she didn't know what was best for her.

"Yeah, down at La Push. You're not allowed there, are you?"

"Nope."

"Huh, is that because of… what you are?"

"Of sorts."

"But… h-how do they know?"

I sighed, "I'll tell you some other time,"

"It's mean of them not to let you there." She sighed.

"It's mean of us not to let them _here_," I smiled. She didn't say anything. I was glad she didn't ask me questions like she used to ask Edward; thankfully she let them drop with me. "You're father says Jacob _likes_ you," I giggled, trying to sound like I was having a girly gossip. I think I failed. She looked at me blankly, her cheeks reddening slightly. "What do you think?"

She shrugged, "He's Jacob. He's like my sun, he brightens up my days,"

"I thought _I_ did that?!" I said, mocking hurt.

"Yeah, but… you're _his_ sister…"

"Oh,"

She didn't want me to –_I _didn't really want to – but I helped her get ready for her _date with Mike._ She shooed me away from her cupboard though, and threw on anything –literally. Jogging bottoms would have been more stunning. Just a t-shirt and jeans though, and she didn't even run a brush through her hair. I wondered how much effort Newton would make. Compared to her, too much. Charlie didn't know I was here, so when Mike came for her, I waited by her window and watched them leave. Mike might as well have been wearing a suit, he was that dressed up. His hair was gelled in a style reminiscent to my brother's, and his smile could blind plain pilots out of the sky. When Bella stepped out the front door, she looked as dull as ever. Plain white t-shirt, covered in a suede brown jacket, blue jeans and black pumps. Her chocolate brown hair was scattered, tangled and messy on her back. Her eyes were dead. I could only wish their night bad luck.

**AN: Okaaaay, if you're wondering why I took so long to update.... which you're not *glares* its cause I was in Liverpool (w00t) and I could still write, but I have a real bad writer's block. Thats why this chapter is crap :( It was hard to write a Rosalie POV... :( If you've got any Q's or things you dnt understand, just ask (: nd please review? **

**Thanks to my ever faithful -and the new people!- reviewers! x**

**Rachee (: x**


	7. And Mike?

**Mike POV**

Oh my God. A date with _Bella Swan?!_ Dare I believe it? I must be dreaming. I mean; Jessica was hot, but she was no Bella. Not much in the way of personality. But _Bella_... She's hot, and she's nice. She's interesting. Why else would Cullen be interested? She has the power to turn gay guys straight. Nah, he'd probably kill me for even _thinking_ that. Certainly looks like he wants to. The way they've been acting now... I can just imagine Bella being like that for me. All goo-goo eyes, broken hearted if I let her go. Of course, I wouldn't. Too good a catch. Cullen... what a loser. Looked like his family were giving him a hard time about it –since when was the fit blonde Bella's friend? I swear, I thought she was like the ice-queen.

I made sure I looked perfect for tonight. This was my only chance to make a good impression. Not that I was idolizing him or anything, but Bella seemed to like Edward. I couldn't exactly become a lookalike, but my hair gelled up like his. I'm sure she would like it. Unfortunately, some things couldn't change. I've never been more embarrassed about my car in my life. The 'Green-Machine' Jessica had called it. It fit in at school, but would look kind of silly in our date. Cullen had a nice car... Cullen dumped her. Cullen is a _jerk_. Stop imitating _Cullen_. It was time to go. I rushed down the stairs to see my Mom in the kitchen.

"Going out?" She asked, trying not to giggle. Parents should really _grow up_ sometimes.

"Yes." I said stiffly.

"Want dinner before you go?" I was going to shake my head, "It's soup. Tomato, your favourite." Aw, shucks. Coming out with that? Who could say no... I still had a while till seven, anyway.

Oh, _CRAP, CRAP, CRAP._ I got soup on my clothes, and there was nothing else I could wear. Tomato soup... it _never_ comes out. I was stuck like this. Perhaps it wouldn't be too noticeable; I mean it's only a drop on my shirt. Which happens to be white. It looks like blood. I might as well be a vampire. With nothing else I could do, I got in the 'Green-Machine' and started the drive toward Bella's house. I was nowhere near as up for this as I was earlier. Maybe it was the soup. I rang on the doorbell, and it opened a second later.

"Oh, hey!" Chief Swan said enthusiastically.

"Hello, Mr. Swan." I smiled nervously.

"Uh..." He didn't open the door to let me in, or call on Bella. He didn't know me.

"I'm Mike Newton..." I said, hoping to trigger a reaction. It didn't. "Is Bella here?"

"Um... Hi Mike. Yeah, I thought you'd be here to see her. You're a little dressed up to be here to do homework, aren't you? And it's a little late..." He frowned at me, taking in my clothing. Oh, no. Bella didn't tell him. Or he had forgotten.

"No, actually... um... I'm here because... BellaandIaregoingonadate." I stammered.

"Oh," He scowled at me. "Not like Bella not to tell me things like this... _though it has only happened once before..." _He mumbled the last part. I barely heard him. He didn't seem exactly happy, his eyes were very judgemental of me. "Bella?" He yelled. She silently walked downstairs a second later. Oh, no. I was _far_ too dressed up. She looked amazing, of course, but she was just wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

"Sorry I didn't tell you dad..." She mumbled in her dead voice. _What?! _Seriously, she wasn't excited? Even the slightest? She _still_ sounded like a zombie, granted the power of speech.

"It's okay, Bells." He muttered, pulling her into a hug. I could only just hear his next words. "I'm glad you're going out. Just... please don't get too sucked in on _this_ guy." Well, at least I had made a good impression. Her father thought I was some kind of loser; he hadn't even bothered to remember my name! She pulled out of his hug, and began to walk out the door. He stood in the frame, and watched us go. "You have fun tonight, Bells!" He called after us as we walked to the car. Yeah, have fun _Bella_, go to hell _Mike_. As we walked, I put my arm around her shoulder. She shrugged out of it quickly, and it seemed like she tried to keep a large distance between us. Friction... or disgust? She _looked_ like this was death row, I had no idea how she _felt_. Just as we got in the car, I looked up at her house; involuntarily. In one of the windows, I could see the beautiful blonde Cullen watching us. She looked pissed... and slightly sad. I couldn't help it, I continued to look up at her. Suddenly, the sadness won over and she turned away, looking like she was about to cry. I shook my head, and turned to look at Bella. To my surprise, she wasn't next to me, but she was in the back seat.

"A... bu-?" I stuttered in confusion.

"Seatbelt isn't working," She said blankly. Indeed it wasn't; the belt wouldn't move. Had I really been staring at Blondie for so long, that I didn't notice her struggle with it? Or did she try it once, and not bother? Strange. Okay, this was not a great start to the evening, but it could get better, right? Like a romantic comedy…? "Where are we going?" She asked, like she didn't really care. Blondie's ice-queen manner had rubbed off on her, it was obvious. But I would get through that, I could almost tell.

"'La Bella Italia' in Port Angeles; I don't think any of the ones in Forks are that good." I smiled to myself, imagine taking her to The Lodge! Plus, this place practically had the same name as her. Though I expected her to smile, or do nothing, she actually reacted. She flinched, and her eyes sparkled in sadness. For goodness sake, this _has_ to do with Cullen. I'd bet it does. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," She smiled sadly, and I caught a glimpse of it in the mirror. God, I felt like a chauffeur, having to look at her in the mirror.

When we finally got to the restaurant, my hopes were low. We had said next to nothing in the car journey, and nearly everything that had happened so far had been flawed. Was the night going to go perfectly from now on? Well… It could only go _so_ perfect; I can't imagine Bella will go as far as Jessica. Well, I _can_ imagine… Then again, Jessica was rather _drunk._ I can't see Bella having alcohol. A _date_ with her was enough, I suppose. Thankfully, the reservation was still there. Bella only seemed bemused that I had booked, though she didn't say anything. Playing hard to get was fine when picking up dates, but this was just annoying. I wish she'd be more responsive.

We got to our table in silence. The waitress showed us there and we ordered our drinks. The waitresses name was Amber, and she was pretty hot. She kept flicking her dark brown hair behind her ear, though, and that was getting annoying. I don't know if Bella felt the same as me or not, but she kept glaring at the waitress. We both got Cokes, and Amber went away to get them. "Why you so annoyed at her? Was it the hair flicking for you, too?"

She looked at me, as though I'd brought her out of a trance. She seemed to think for a second. "…Yes. It was the hair."

"You been here before?" I asked, looking around. It was a nice enough place, very nice and cozy.

"…Yes." She said, hesitantly. I was about to ask her more, when Amber came back with two Cokes. Bella stared as she set them down, as though she couldn't believe the scene in front of her. I continued to watch her, every twitch of her face.

"Sir? Sir," Amber said.

"Huh, sorry what?" I looked back up at the waitress.

"What will you be ordering?" She said impatiently. I looked at Bella.

She didn't even look in the menu. "Mushroom ravioli." She said, voice cracking slightly.

"Uh… I'll have…" I looked in the menu myself. Everything there made me think of Mom's homemade soup. It was a _really_ bad choice to have it before I left; but hey, who could resist? "Nothing for me." I smiled up at her. Bella, who had been playing with her cutlery suddenly froze. She was looking at me incredulously.

"Sorry, what?" She said, as soon as the bewildered waitress left.

"I'm not having anything," I said sheepishly. "I'm sorry… I had soup before coming," And just to show my stupidity; I had to go and gesture at the red-orange stain on my shirt. She didn't seem to care. Actually, I think she was having a mental breakdown.

"So… you're saying that here, in La Bella Italia, in Port Angeles, Amber is serving us, we both got Cokes, we're at the… the _same_ table as _that_ day, I'm having mushroom ravioli, and you're having _nothing_?! Next, we'll be driving home at 100 miles an hour, stupidly declaring our love for each other!" She screamed, tears rolling down her face. I just stared at her, horrified at her little outburst. What did all _that_ have to do with anything? "I can't take this. I _can't take_ this. It's just the same, only you're _Mike_. I'm sorry about this, I have to go. I can't bear this anymore," She said, getting up. Just then, Blondie walked in.

"Bella? Are you alright? Alice called… do you want me to take you home?" She said, throwing glances my way every now and then. Bella walked forward and hugged her.

"Thank you so much, Rosalie," She mumbled over her shoulder. I felt like I was part of a soap opera. What the hell was going on?! What was with Bella?! How did Blondie get here? How did she know? What did Alice have to do with this? Was Bella just going to _leave_? My head spun. "I'm sorry, Mike, but I'm going to take Bella home," She said coldly. Oh, like Bella's freaky outburst was _my_ fault.

"Bu-?" I started, but a glare cut me off. I gathered bravery, and tried again. "What's wrong with Bella? Was it something I said?"

"_Pfft_." Blondie snorted. There was a slapping sound; Bella had hit Blondie, though only lightly, as though as a reminder or a warning. "No, really. I'm sorry, Mike. Pure coincidence." Her beautiful bell voice rang with sincerity. She pulled back from Bella gently, and smiled sadly at her. "Coming?" She asked. Bella nodded, wiping her eyes like a sad toddler. I always thought she was rather headstrong, I has never seen her cry before. They began to walk away.

"Wait, what?!" I said, "Are you just leaving, then? End of date?"

"Your call," Rosalie shrugged. "Date yourself," She smiled wickedly, receiving another tiny hit from Bella.

"I'm sorry, Mike," Bella murmured as they walked away. I couldn't believe it. One moment, we were sitting waiting on her meal, beginning of the night. Next minute, she's ranting away about the events in the night, Blondie appears, and then they're both away? Just then, Amber came back with Bella's ravioli.

"Where did your date go?" She asked curiously.

"Off with someone else," I sighed, resting my chin in my hands.

"Thought she was dating someone else. Y'know, I remember her coming in here; she was with this _really_ fit guy. I barely paid attention to _her_, no offense, but _him…_! Actually, come to think of it… they sat here," She smiled at me. "Sorry about that though. Want another drink? On the house," She grinned.

"Amber!" Someone shouted from the kitchen.

"Oops. Well, enjoy your meal. Or do you want to pay and leave now?"

"Amber! These plates are not going to deliver themselves!" Came another shout.

"I'll send Andrea." She smiled briskly, and dashed away. I sighed and took a sip of my juice. _What a night._

**AN: Hah, Mike. He's so easy to write. I enjoyed this little bit of unfortunate humor....  
Readers, thankyou. But I need YOU to review! xD That's on an advert... or a poster... or something. Please review?  
Reviewers, thankyou :D I know a couple of people called for a Bella POV, but I'd already started the Mike one... :( if anyone wants Bella's side of the date, just say :) I have a habit of thinking I know the characters reasons for reactions, and then not being able to express the 'why's properly. So seriously, if you don't get Bella in this one, I can do a BPOV, it was fairly short :D**

**Thanks again :D **

**Rachee (: x**


	8. Battle

**EPOV.**

I was sitting in my room, by the piano, as usual when it happened. Normally, I couldn't care less for Rosalie's anger. It was eight o'clock when the door slammed, and I could hear her stomping up stairs. Straight to my room. Without bothering knocking, or waiting by the door, she stormed in and walked over to me by the piano. Her fist smashed down on the keys, creating a horrible cross between the tinkling notes and the crumbling of the keys. I looked at the keys, then up at her. She was _fuming_.

"_You,_" Her voice cracked in anger, giving her bell voice a cruel edge. "_You had to_, didn't you?!"

"What are we talking about?" I asked.

"Hahaha, _what are we talking about?!_ You know what I'm talking about,"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you talking about?" I repeated calmly.

"I was with _your_/_not_ your Bella Swan tonight. She went out." She said, gritting her teeth. Alice came through the door then, not bothering to knock either.

"Rosalie? Was it really that bad?"

"It was worse than your vision, Alice. I didn't get there quick enough, she was in hysterics," They both looked at me. "Quite odd, really. She went out with some guy. They went to Port Angeles. They went to 'La Bella Italia'. They were served by _Amber_. They both ordered Cokes. She got mushroom ravioli, he got nothing. Nothing wrong with that, is there? I mean, he had _soup_ beforehand. Only there was a problem. You see, your little Bella Swan went hysterical. She couldn't see her date, she could see _you_. I had to come take her home." She hissed. "Are you doing this to her for _laughs_, or do you _truly_ believe she'll be happy with _someone else_?!"

"Rosalie, you don't like... Bella." I said, trying hard to forget all the things she just said. Bella was dating someone else? I'm glad for her, I guess. In some sort of sour grapes way. No, this is what I decided, this is what was to happen. I couldn't go all jealous; she isn't mine.

"I _didn't_. But compared to _you_, I'm like her freaking guardian _angel_!"

"Edward," Alice said. I could hear anger and sadness behind her tone, but she was trying hard to stay relaxed. "I know what you did was for her own good-"

"Pah!" Rosalie snorted.

"-But don't you think this has gone on for a little too long? I mean, you're both going _insane_. This was never going to work, everyone knew."

"Look. If she's going out on dates, she's obviously getting over me. Which is good, because she won't be forced to be like us,"

"But _you-"_

"To _hell _with _me!_" I snarled.

There was a long silence. They both still stared at me, Alice had her arms folded, and Rosalie was clenching and unclenching her fists in anger. "Tell him about your vision, Alice," Rosalie said calmly.

"But if I-" She started.

"Tell him about your vision," Somehow, Rosalie's calm was more threatening to Alice. She looked at Rosalie, then looked at me pleadingly.

"Well, I'm not going to speak it," She said after a second. She wanted me to listen in on her thoughts. There were two pictures, of actions happening simultaneously. One of them was of Bella's room. She was lying on her bed, cold and lifeless. She was dead. The image was horrifying. She'd been drained by a vampire. She had been killed. Not changed, killed. The other picture was us; my family. We were battling against... _werewolves?_ And losing. There were at least 13 of them, and only 7 of us. I shook my head, dispersing the disturbing images.

"Why? When?" I asked through clenched teeth. "..._Who?!"_

"I don't know the details. All I know is that this family _needs_ to stay connected with Bella. Closely. I don't even know _why_ we're at war with the wolves-"

Rosalie hissed. "We're going to die fighting against those _mongrels?! _You didn't tell me _that_, Alice,"

"-But it has something to do with Bella. As for Bella's future that way, I can only guess we will stop that from happening; somehow."

"So you're saying that she is going to die if I _don't_ get back together with her, rather than if I _do?_"

"Exactly!" Alice growled at me.

"I don't think I can. I don't want it to seem like I've just been messing around with her. You didn't see her crying in Biology. You didn't see her face in the woods-" I stopped to gasp for a breath before the pain engulfed me entirely. She didn't see, but I did, and it was going to be with me forever. "Do you think that with just a few beautiful words whispered in her ear, she'll return to me? I certainly don't believe that. I've broken her." I hung my head.

"Well, you have to _try_ it! You've seen the consequences!" Alice said, and I could hear the sad, but hopeful smile in her words.

"Um..." Rosalie said quietly. We both looked up at her, to see she looked very uncomfortable. "I don't see this being as easy as Alice makes it out to be..."

"Why not?! He loves her, she loves him, right?!" Alice said defiantly.

"Well... as far as I know... Bella's been hanging out with the wolves..."

"What?!" Alice and I snarled at the same time.

"Yes. Well, actually, no. Not yet."

"What is that meant to mean?!"

"They aren't wolves _yet_. But not far from it. Anyway... one of them is planning on asking her out, according to Charlie. And he thinks she's into him, too. Jacob Black."

At the name, I froze. "Black? As in _Ephraim Black's_ grandson? The _Alpha_? And as far as Alice can see, without Bella, we're going to die at the hands of him and his pack?! And she's going to die from some anonymous vampire's meal?!"

"Rosalie, why are you letting her?" Alice gasped.

"I can't exactly forbid her, can I?" She replied defensively.

"But... they're going to kill us, if she isn't with us. And if we die, she dies."

"Well, it isn't my fault," She scowled at me, as did Alice.

"Idiot," They both remarked. I paid no attention.

"So what do we do?" Alice said thoughtfully.

"You're supposed to be the fortune-teller," Rosalie snorted.

"I know what we will do when we decide," Alice hissed. "Maybe Bella won't like Jacob... I don't know..."

"What if we tell her the truth about what will happen? If we tell her what happened with this _jackass_," Rosalie said, meaning _me_, of course.

"We might have to... Shall we ask Carlisle?"

"So, what? Leaving her was all in vain?" I scowled at them. I didn't doubt Alice's vision, I had seen it myself. I had moped around for so long, just to be told it would be better to be _with_ Bella.

"Yep, pretty much." Alice shrugged. "Then again, we all told you it was the wrong thing to do."

I groaned, and followed them to Carlisle's study. He was home, thankfully. As we walked in, he looked up from the sheets of paper he was filling in. He took in our expressions, and his curious smile faded instantly. "What's up?" He asked.

"Lots," Alice sighed. "Okay, so I had a vision. I could see two futures, ours and Bella's, if we stayed away from her. Both end badly. Bella will get killed..." She stole a glance at me, at the same time I winced at her words. How the hell could I have endangered her this much? She wasn't safe with or without me. We should never have met. We shouldn't have gotten this involved with each other. Alice continued, "By a vampire. I can't see who, I can only see her dead. At the same time, I can see us battling with the... _werewolves_. We will lose that battle, I can tell; we are far too outnumbered. Somehow, both Bella's and our futures are interlinked. Without her, neither of us will survive."

"What if we are with her again?" Carlisle asked, slightly shaken from the news of her vision. Alice thought about it for a second.

"Same as before, when she was with us. She will be one of us," She smiled. I could feel a growl building up in the back of my throat. _Damned either way._

"Well, Edward. Looks like Alice was right at the start. If you value yours, your family's –including Bella's- lives, be prepared to do some grovelling," He smiled. "Thank you for coming to tell me. I'll be glad when we get Bella back," He didn't seem to notice we were still all tense. "What else is there?" He asked suspiciously.

"Well... you see, Bella has been trying... er... _dating._ While at her house, Charlie was telling me about someone who wanted to ask her out, and about how good he thought this guy would be for her. _And_, how smitten he was of her. This guy... he happens to be a werewolf descendant, Ephraim Black's grandson..."

"So, when he changes, he will be Alpha, therefore leader when –if- we get into this fight." I concluded morbidly.

"Bella is dating _werewolves?_" Carlisle asked, shocked. "Has he _imprinted_ on her?"

"He's not a _dog_ yet, so we don't know. I don't know if he will or not though..." Alice said, frowning. "I can't see any of his future." She said simply.

"In other words then: Bella is dating a soon-to-be-werewolf, the Alpha of the pack, who will one day kill us, if we are not with Bella. But we can't be with Bella because she is with the wolves. And if we _aren't_ with Bella, she will die. Right?"

When he put it that way, it just made things sound so much worse... "Yes. Basically." I choked out.

"Can't those _mongrels_ protect her from death?" Rosalie asked after a moment's silence.

"Apparently not," Alice mumbled. "Edward, can't you get back together with her, or at least _try?_ Rosalie, she's not going out with _wolfy_ yet, is she?"

"I thought you told me to be her friend to stop this? Isn't that enough?" Rosalie interjected. So it was on Alice's command Rosalie was her friend...

"Not close _enough._ The closer the better," She grimaced.

"How do you know these things, but you don't know _who_ will... will _hurt_ her, or _why_ we're fighting the wolves? Or _why _someone wants to... _hurt_ Bella?" I refused to say kill, or murder.

"I don't know, but don't you think it'll be better if she's back as _your_ girlfriend, rather than this _mutt's?_ Rosalie has no power over who she dates. We all know that you want each other back, anyway."

"Yes, but-" I was still annoyed about all the wasted time, all the misery, when it was unnecessary. And would immortality really be best for her over death? I mean, I know I would _much_ rather to keep her alive, mortal or not. But would she want that? She's always said she would – I remembered the conversation we had in hospital, after James' vicious attack- but was there _any_ way to tell before it actually happens? What happens when her friends all have children, are all growing old, and she's stuck at 18, 19 whatever age? Maybe she would want immortality more seriously when she's older, trying to claw back the years. When she's had children, and instead of growing old, fighting against it. But never this young... Though that's rather hypocritical; some days I thank the stars I was changed. Like the day I fell in love with Bella... like those days I was there to save her life. If she had to be changed into a life of immortality, rather than death, I would do it. If she was lying on her... deathbed I wouldn't need to be asked twice.

"Edward, I can see why you are so unsure about this," Carlisle said. Sometimes, I believed he was a mind-reader as well. He knew _exactly_ why I didn't like this idea. "But if Bella truly loves you, she will believe the truth. She won't think that you were just messing around with her. She will see you have a kind heart," He smiled, while I tried not to growl at him. It was horrible how he and Esme thought of me. They thought me too good, much better a creature than I really am. "And she _wants_ to be a vampire; she _wants_ to be with you. Trust me, I don't believe our fates would be so closely tied if nothing was meant to be between you two." He smiled again.

"I...I will speak to her. But if that doesn't work, you're all going to hell!" I said, trying to lighten the mood slightly. I know; big turnaround. But... there was a chance –no matter how small a chance- I would be with Bella again, be able to hold her, to kiss her, and this time, there would be a good cause behind it. I would be _protecting _her. I would love her if the world depended on it. I loved her; no matter if the world depended on it. Hell, who gave a crap about the world? _Bella_ matters.

"We're already going to hell," Rosalie said gloomily. I rolled my eyes at her for reminding me of that little unfortunate, but she was right. And I was damning Bella to this?! My thoughts started spinning again.

"But we'll never die," Alice said chirpily.

"That all depends on _jackass_." Rosalie smirked. What a lovely sentiment. "_Fucking mutts,"_ She grumbled under her breath.

"Rosalie!" Carlisle scolded her.

"Well, it's true! They took away our best hunting grounds too! And now we've got this bloody _treaty_. I wish we _had_ beaten the crap out of them, back then. Would make things a whole lot easier now."

"Pfft, and _how_ did the treaty bother you?! Esme told me that you and Emmett only met the wolves once, the rest of the time you-"

"Alice!" Carlisle scolded her, before looking expectantly at me. "We all know what they did," He grumbled. "Want to say anything to get yourself in trouble?" He joked.

"I'll wait until we've sorted this mess out," I smiled half-heartedly. _If_ we could sort this out. At least, if Bella was to die, I would too.

**AN: I'll give cookie to the person who can guess what will happen. :P  
Sorry I haven't uploaded in ageeeeees. Technical glitch grrrr. So yeah. tell me what you think :D **

**I'm not sure yet, but the next chapter may be in Jacob's POV. But it is quite out of character for Jake, he's friendlier and sweeter... i dnt like Jacob much though :/ sorry :P**

**Thanks, reviewers and readers :) Not had reviews or alerts or favourites in days! It makes me rather sad xD damn glitch. **

**Rachee (: x**


	9. Emergency

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilightish things :( Well... I did own Edward once, but long story short he escaped... :( xD Do you have to do these every chapter? Dayum! You know I meant to say it... Right? :P I was going to do this in Jacob's POV, but I didn't get any that absolutely called for it, but I _did _get one that was against it. So here's this crazy nutter Bella's POV instead :D**

**BPOV.**

"Rosalie, let me get it," I looked up to see the crazily beautiful blonde walking to the door.

"No, Bella. You finish your essay. It'll probably be one of those call centres again." She said nervously, before she shook her head and opened the door.

"It might be Renee," I said. That stumped her for a second. I got up and walked past her quickly, there was only so many rings left before they hung up. There was a twinkly sound behind me; Rosalie got a text.

"Oh, crap." She mumbled, before sprinting past me at an athlete's pace. "You don't want this call, Bella," She sighed. She slowed down – so not to crash into the phone- just in time to walk into Charlie, who picked up the phone. Somehow, Charlie was unfazed by the marble strength of Rosalie. Actually, _she _tripped up.

"Hello? Oh, hey Jake! Yeah..." He carried on speaking. I didn't listen, I was staring at Rosalie in shock. She had fallen down – acting human- and after Charlie quickly helped her up she sat by the table, wincing at every mention of La Push, Jacob, anything to do with him. Then she felt my gaze. She looked at me with wide eyes, a mixture between worry, shock and anguish plain across her face. "Anyway! You want to speak to Bella, right?" Rosalie cringed. What was her problem? Did she not want me to be friends with Jacob? Was she now to be my only friend? Did she have a prejudice against the Quileutes, similar to the one they had against her family? Maybe it was just because she couldn't be there when I was there. Then again, I've never seen Rosalie _that_ desperate to hang around with me; scratch that – I've never seen her _want_ to hang around with me since... _that_.

"Bella?" Charlie said, shaking the phone in front of me through the stair banisters. I was still on the 3rd step after going for the phone.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, walking down the remainder of the stairs. Just as I took a step, Rosalie got another text, causing Charlie and I to look at her. Her face suddenly fell into an expression of alarm. She dropped the phone just as it happened; my big toe caught on the stairs carpeting, and I fell down them, face first. I went to put my arms out, but my fingertips whacked against the banister, and by reflex my hand curled back. I landed awkwardly on my wrist, bending it back, at the bottom of the stairs, right next to Rosalie's phone. Though I was in extreme pain, I could see it was from Alice. _Plug your nose: Bella will bleed._ It said.

"Call you back, Jake," Charlie mumbled quickly. Just then, I realized I _was_ bleeding. All of a sudden, I was speeding out of the house and into Rosalie's shiny red car.

"I'll take her Charlie!" Rosalie shouted as she was out the door. I noticed that she was very obviously not breathing. "Are you okay, Bella?" She asked, speeding away toward the hospital, winding down the windows at the same time.

"Yes," I said, confusedly. I couldn't feel pain anymore, it had gone numb.

"That's surprising, considering the number you've done on your wrist," She laughed nervously, before sticking her head out the window for a breath. "I'm sorry, Bella, but I haven't hunted in a while,"

"That's okay, _I'm _sorry, Rosalie. I don't know how I managed to fall." I cursed my clumsiness once again. Paper cut and falling down the stairs? I'd caused too much stress in their family as it is.

"Don't _you_ be sorry, Bella. And I'm not just sorry about my having to-" She stuck her head back out the window, for effect, or she had really just ran out of air –"Breathe like this so I don't _kill_ you, but I don't think I could handle the hospital," She groaned.

"But it's all kept in rooms and bags and..." I trailed off. Surely with a doctor as a father she would know that.

"You have no idea, sometimes, when you're _very_ thirsty, your senses narrow in on blood, no matter what. There's _too much_ blood in a hospital," She said apologetically. I looked out the window and realized we were no longer heading up that familiar road to the hospital. I tried not to recognize where we were going, and it worked, to some extent.

"So... are we just going to some shady forest where you can amputate?" I said, trying to joke.

"No." She said curtly. "We're going to my house."

"A house full of _vampires?_" I didn't even _try_ think of my _main_ aversion to going there; _he_ wouldn't give a damn. "But the blood...?" I thought of the event with Jasper. I hadn't actually looked at the wound on my hand, and I could still hardly feel it. From the way the numbness felt, I guessed I _didn't_ want to see it. She leaned out the window again, took a large breath, then closed her eyes. I would have been terrified, but I knew better than that, and cared less than that. Then she turned to look at me.

"Holy _crap!_ " She yelled, seeming unable to take her eyes away from my wrist. "There's bone and _everything!_" I didn't look. I didn't look. I didn't _need _to look. I didn't _need_ to look. I repeated over and over in my head. I'm sure Rosalie would like it better if I were conscious. "Nearly everyone's out hunting."

"Except Carlisle, who'll fix it up," I stated.

"No," She said coldly, and I could imagine her pinching her nose, like... Wait, Carlisle wouldn't be there? I panicked. He was the only one who could help. She was going to take me home and drain me. I _knew _it. Rosalie never liked me, and she never will. Not in the few minutes I have before I die, anyway. Probably because she was going to kill me.

"Who?" My voice shook uncontrollably. Though I wasn't afraid of death anymore; I'd lost reason to live, I couldn't help but dread the near future.

"Who else in our house has a degree in medicine, and control second only to Carlisle?"

"Um... all of you have a medicine degree?" I guessed. She shook her head, taking a quick breath without leaning out.

"Esme, Jasper and I could do law, though mainly Jasper. Esme is into architecture, Jasper can do things around history. Emmett and I can do engineering, and he does sport. Alice... well, you know her, art and fashion design. All the artsy ones. Edward does medicine, as does Carlisle, of course." She explained methodically. I guessed these would be their career preferences, if they needed jobs. But the last one made my heart sink. Carlisle wasn't there... _Dr. E. Cullen._ I gulped. Oh, no. Confrontation.

"But... but..._Edward,_" I strangled the name out. "Edward loves my blood! How...?" I panicked, grabbing at any excuse I could.

"He once sucked venom back out of your blood, this is a simple break. I' _sure_ he'll be able to handle _that_," She hissed, glaring at some invisible presence in front of her.

"But Rosalie... you really should have let Charlie take me to the hospital. I don't want to inconvenience your family..."

"First of all, I didn't think about the hospital problem till I mentioned it. And I'm not going to have endured this, just to bring you back. That's like going on a tour in a blood bank; unnecessary, and it hurts. Second, you'd only be inconveniencing Edward, and who cares about him?" She smiled.

_Me_. I thought, closing my eyes. Would _he_ be able to endure the scent of my blood? Would I have to talk to him? Would it be awkward, since I'm still insanely in love with him and he could give a damn, or would I be able to act like he's any old doctor I've been to? This was all messed up. I knew I couldn't exactly blame Rosalie, but I _did_ wish she'd thought about this before coming. The scent of the blood was beginning to waft its way toward my nose, so I stopped breathing. I didn't want to pass out. Rosalie obviously heard my breathing stop, and looked at me confusedly, eyes quickly avoiding my wrist, before the image absorbed her. She didn't say anything, fortunately.

I tried not to think about the upcoming dread I was about to face. Instead, I wondered what Jacob had wanted to say on the phone. Maybe he was going to invite me round... that would have been a change. Equilibrium is not one of my strengths, it's not even funny. God, I had traded a day with my best friend, my sunshine, to spend the day getting a cast from my beautiful, amazing, wonderful vampire ex-boyfriend. The world wasn't giving me lemons, it was giving me _potatoes_. I can't make juice out of _potatoes_, just like I couldn't make a good thing out of this situation. Hah, _Potatoade_. It would be disgusting. Maybe just make mash instead...

Random thoughts seemed to work, because we got up to the now eerie, white Cullen mansion in no time. Rosalie got another text, just as we got out the car. She groaned loudly after reading it. "Quicker fortune teller would be better."

"Was it from Alice? What did she say? Did she see this happening?" I asked quickly, before realizing how nosy I was being.

"Yes, she says: 'ROSALIE!? What the _hell_ are you doing? Edward will ask us for help when he _needs_ it!'" She shook her head and sighed dramatically. "I'm not helping him. She doesn't know I didn't _plan_ this. Edward _can_ do it in his own friggin' time." She growled. "I can't find a doctor around here, who _isn't _at the hospital, without people jumping to conclusions,"

"About what?" Again, I was being nosy. But this concerned me, as far as I could tell.

She shook her head. "Never mind. Look at your wrist! Come on!" She exclaimed, reaching out to grab my hand, before thinking better of it. I didn't look at my wrist, like she said. They would kill me, and I wouldn't know it, fainting at _blood_. I practically shook all the way up to the door, though not out of pain, or of _fear_ of physical pain. Would I break down, like in Biology and in the restaurant? Hopefully not. _Keep a brave face, don't let him get to you,_ I thought, trying to encourage myself. My heart was laughing at me, like I'd asked it to do the impossible. _Fly to the moon, heart._ It pulsed wildly, as though it wanted to reach out for him itself. I was powerless against it. Each beat hurt like a dagger boring into my ribcage. The faded pain in my wrist was nothing compared to this. As we walked through the door, Rosalie's phone went off _again._

"Alice," She sighed. That was all she managed to get out before the yelling erupted from the other line. I could hear her words.

"Rosalie. Find. Him." She yelled.

"What?!" Rosalie hissed. "Who?!"

"EDWARD!" Alice screeched.

Rosalie went upstairs, and back downstairs in a flash, a sheet of paper in hand. She read through it quickly. "_Jackass!!_" She growled, scowling at the letter before sighing. "I know, we'll have to work around it. Just because that _arsehole_ is gone, doesn't mean we're all going to die." Her eyes flickered to me. Alice was talking quietly now, because I couldn't hear her through the phone. "I know, he messed with your vision," Rosalie hissed. "Bella, could you go wash the blood away from your hand? The rest of the family are coming back, Carlisle can treat it then." She smiled as I walked away. They were definitely hiding something from me. First, Rosalie doesn't want me to be near Jacob, Edward's went away, and apparently, they're in danger. Edward's note would have the answer. If not, I was going to get them from Rosalie. Edward pushed me away from him, doesn't that mean that I should have lost dangerous connections with vampires? Not that I was going to stand back and let them get hurt. When the cool water hit my hands and the nasty wound on my wrist, I truly felt the pain of it. It was like icy daggers. I drew away from it quickly, yelping in pain. As soon as the sensation was gone, it was missed. The pain throbbed, demanding the ice cold water again, as though the extreme pain was a release. I did as it commanded, and gritted my teeth under the pain. I still hadn't seen what it looked like, and still had no intention of looking, not yet. Instead, I looked at the water running to the drain, waiting for the clear red to fade to water. When it did, I permitted myself to look. The wrist had been bent forward, and the skin on the back of my hand, joining to my wrist had split, causing all the blood. It was clearly sprained, and if you looked really close, you _could_ see bone, right in the centre if the split. I shuddered, and looked away. I had to think about the mystery going on with the Cullens. I didn't feel so nosy now, this clearly involved _me._ When I walked back to where Rosalie was, she wasn't there.

"In the main room, Bella," She said, her voice shook with concealed annoyance. I followed her voice, trying not to remember the hallways and rooms I knew so well. When I got there, she was sitting on the sofa, the armrest torn to shreds under her dark purple fingernails.

"Rosalie, where is Edward? What is going on?"

She handed me his note, "I'm not saying anything else, yet. I need 'Alice's approval'," She did the quotation marks with her fingers, glaring at nothing while she spoke. I looked at her for another second, until my curiosity got the better of me and I looked at the note. It was in Edward's elegant script, of course. The words made my heart sting.

_I'm going for a while, but I'll be back soon, back before fate crashes on us. Alice, I saw your vision. Before you left, you looked for Bella's future. It disappeared. I know what that means. I've ruined our lives, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I left Bella at the stupidest time. I'm sorry I _left_ Bella. I'm sorry I let our lives interlink so dangerously, and I'm sorry how it will affect our family. Sorry I couldn't win her back on time. Sorry she's with the one who will kill us. Sorry it's too late. Sorry it's never going to be enough to apologize. Don't come looking for me, don't worry about me, I'll come back. It's the most I can do. I love you all, make sure Bella knows I love her, and I will try figure this out, before fate crashes on us..._

I didn't realize I was crying till I felt cold fingers brush tears away. I didn't know what half the sentences meant, but they were filled with love entirely. "My gosh, Carlisle, look at her wrist!" It was Esme brushing my tears away.

"Alice explained. That's why we got a cast first," He said, walking over to me with a white gauze cylinder.

"I didn't think it would be this bad. She needs stitching too, yes?" She looked up at her husband, concern twinkling in her eyes. He nodded. Then, Alice stormed through.

"Rosalie! Where is that note?!" She said, looking around. She saw I had it, and walked over to me, her expression softening instantly. "Oh, Bella. I'm so, _so_ sorry!" I shook my head, and smiled a sad, watery smile. She rolled her eyes. "We've done so much to hurt you, haven't we?" She mumbled, gently picking up the note from my lap. She read it in a second. "Oh, no..." She groaned, turning to Rosalie. "He saw the vision before I left, before she fell. He thought she went to La Push... He thought that-"

Rosalie flashed her a glare, and she stopped speaking instantly. That is, until she blurted it out. "He thought that Jacob kissed Bella, and they started going out." She said quickly, before Rosalie could stop her.

"He thinks it's hopeless, so he's ran away?" Carlisle said doubtfully. "That's not Edward." I noticed he had gathered things he would need to stitch up the slice on my wrist. I cringed away from it.

"He's _'thinking'_ about how to solve this," Rosalie hissed. "He will come back though." She said sarcastically. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in my wrist. I realized then that my arm wasn't lying normally, but Carlisle had it and was already half way through stitching the slice up again.

"Aren't you meant to ask first?" I said, smiling slightly, though wincing at the pain every few seconds. He shrugged, pursing his lips as though trying not to laugh. I looked around at the Cullens, all standing around each other, me involved. This felt like family. There were only three people missing though. The first –Edward- I knew about... "Where are Emmett and Jasper?"

"Jasper's worried about control, and Emmett's keeping him company," Esme smiled. Alice rolled her eyes.

"If you're wondering what they're doing, Emmett found a wheelbarrow. That's pretty much all the information you need." She laughed, though there was an anxious edge to it. I looked quickly out the window just on time to see the wheelbarrow speed by, Emmett sitting inside. Nobody was pushing it, so I guessed Jasper was just outside the window frame. _Idiots_. I think was the general mental murmur coming from all of us. Before I knew it, there was a heavy, uncomfortable white cast on my hand. I grumbled at it, waving it around. I didn't have long to inspect it though, a second later the wheelbarrow flew past again, in mid-air with a terrified Jasper sitting inside. Emmett dashed in then and pulled me into a suffocating hug. There was a crash from outside, and I could swear, at first I thought it was Emmett crushing my bones.

"Bellaaa!" Emmett sang, dropping me onto my feet. He sniffed quickly. "S'ok, Jazz, no blood!" A very dishevelled Jasper appeared at the door then, looking dizzy. Emmett burst out into loud guffaws as soon as he saw him.

"Didn't need to throw it so hard," Jasper muttered under his breath. At least _that_ part of the family was stress-free. Now, onto the other side of the family, who were laughing too cheerfully, smiling too widely, giving me the feeling something much worse than I imagined was happening.

**AN: Hmm... idk if I like this chapter... review? I need more than my own opinion xD oh, she of little faith.  
Srsly, can nobody figure out the story behind Alice's vision? Even if you're not certain, give it a guess... I mean, today I didn't even think of Bella falling over, then I got a review suggesting that. I didn't think about it being Edward as the doctor, either. Then when I did, he was gonna stay, but I changed my mind. I still have my main plotline, but please, feel free to guess! I'll accept crazy ideas! :P Natalie - you know this to be true... xD**

**But yeah, after that little rant... Thankyou for reviewing! Keep it up :D It makes me look like that! Srsly :P And Story Alerting, and authour alerting and favourite storying, and fav authoring... You guys are cool. If anyone tells you otherwise, just sing the Batman tune. Yeah... Batman. You heard... Batman. **

**Thankyou muchos!! xD**

**Rachee (: x**


	10. Losing

**AN: Try listening to Placebo's song Black Eyed, it's the song I was listening to when I thought up having this chapter. Enjoy! **

**EPOV.**

The forest floor was an interesting place. The rain splashed from the trees above into murky, muddy puddles below. Animals scurried around aimlessly, unsure of where they would be safe from the pounding raindrops. They supplied a thrumming rhythm, one that only could be created naturally. The forest was a good place to think. It was a good place for monsters, too. But I wasn't allowed to think like that, not now, not while we were all in danger. If I didn't exist in the first place, it would be easier. If I died before my parents, giving Carlisle no chance to help me. Would he have changed someone else, or just stuck with even numbers? No, of course, he had to change me, the defective vampire that fell in love with humans and endangered them all. I should have remembered how fickle humans can be. Of course, I originally wanted her to move on, though my heart certainly didn't want that. I can't blame her for moving on. I told her to, and she can do nothing but that. Sure, she was sad, but at the time it _was _the best thing for her. At least until those wolves had to mess things up. Really, no matter how much I hated them, I could only blame myself. I had wanted her while things were safe and easy, but only to discard her when they got too difficult. Now, I wanted her back; what would she think of me? She had a new boyfriend now, anyway. The one who would prevent me from saving her.

Somewhere, far off in the distance, lightning crackled in the air, breaking through the gathering murky mist like a snake flicking its tongue. It snapped me back into rational thought. I had no time to ponder over Bella's love interest, or envy him. There were more important things at hand. I would protect her, no matter who she cared for, and that was what I had to do. There was rarely a way around Alice's visions, though I would always stubbornly disagree. There _had_ to be now, I couldn't let this happen. If I knew _who_ would be the one to... _remove_ her from the world, I could stop them, watch them like a hawk. Then at least her werewolf would be able to protect her; and there would be no interference from me. It sounds simple enough, but that's hardly ever the case. It's like having to break up with her all over again, though this time we're not even going out. I have to be selfless, let better judgment of her safety come before my desires. Though they equalled; in similar ways. Another roll of thunder snaked through the dark clouds, meeting the impenetrable fog with a snap. It was getting closer, though still too far away for human ears to hear it. Who could be doing this to us? It had to be someone with knowledge of Alice's visions, to slip through her sight undiscovered. It had to be someone clever, who could reach her when neither my family and I, or the future werewolves were watching her. I cast my memory back, to see if there were any clues in Alice's vision. Even a slight hair, left behind by them. Though, knowing mine and Bella's luck, it would be a bald vampire. There was absolutely no way of telling from the heart-wrenching image of the lifeless Bella, so I quickly, and gladly looked at the other scene she had found. It was easier to watch the beginning of my end, than see a lifeless Bella. I searched around the shadows of the scene. There was one, but I imagined it to be a wolf. There was still some emerging into the clearing in this vision. Since this was _Alice's_ vision, there were certain thoughts she had of this image. I remembered them clearly. Some of them weren't even words, just a searching. She looked around at each member of the family, and the blurred images of dogs. There was something, a fear Alice had hidden from me, and I needed to find it; it could be vital.

That was when I noticed it; I could not see Jasper in this image. He wasn't fighting, he wasn't waiting, he simply wasn't there. It _couldn't_ be. It _won't_ be. He wouldn't. It wasn't Jasper who gave Bella her death. Certainly not. I had more faith in him than to believe that. As did Alice, she obviously didn't want me jumping to conclusions. He could easily be behind the picture. This is, after all, Alice's sight. He could be hidden in the trees, using his power to help us. He could be fighting in his own little battle against a wolf. He could be returning from Bella's house...

No.

I refused to think like this. Jasper would _never_ hurt Bella. He might have wanted to, at one point, so long ago; but he knew better than that now. He would never set out to maliciously hurt her, and he would know not to be overpowered by her beautiful blood. I shuddered; try as I might, I was unable to shake the thought. Then again, I couldn't shake any bad thought away at the moment. The rain couldn't peel away at them, try as it might. The wind couldn't throw them out of my head. The fog couldn't mist them up, blinding me. The lightning didn't strike fear in me, like it did with the forest elements. It couldn't destroy the things I begged it to, no matter if it desired or not. And of course, it _did_ desire it. It hissed furiously with every strike, creating desolation on the tiny centimetres it singed. Try as it might get me, try as I might offer myself to it, there was no way it would damage me. I couldn't think such depressing thoughts now, anyway. There was no way I would take the easy way out now and leave my family to their deaths without me. Even if I couldn't find out the source, I would die with them, not now on my own.

Could it be the Volturi? If they found out about Bella's knowledge, _that_ would surely happen. And the Quileutes know about us. Though, we know their secret too. All the same, would they be comfortable with their inside information? Would we be asked to get rid of them, or them us? I couldn't be sure if it _was_ the Volturi or not, so I pushed them aside. Who else would want all of us dead? What about the wolves? In this equation, they weren't going to die. They couldn't have...? No, not if one of them loves Bella. They wouldn't be able to 'hire' a vampire assassin anyway. They wouldn't want to. Perhaps it was coincidence that she died when we were losing a fight? No, _too_ coincidental. Someone wanted both the wolves and my family out of the way while they killed Bella. So it was all about her. But what vampire would want to hurt her? I can think of a few that would to hurt want me... but not Bella. The one closest linked to Bella would have to be Victoria. Since I killed James, she's bound to want to kill _me_. Not Bella, she was just the reason I got rid of him... That's it. She still wants at me, but she's going to do it theatrically. She'll use Bella's pain against me, kill her like I killed James. And I'd basically led her into this. Like leading a sheep into a lion's den, then leaving it to fend for itself. If I could find Victoria before she finds Bella... Though there was only a small chance of _that_ happening. James was a tracker, she was an evader. And if her scent hadn't yet crossed anywhere near Forks? I wondered briefly if Laurent was still in Denali, and if he had heard from Victoria.

There was not much else I could do. I whipped out my phone, and called Kate. She was the only one of the sisters I could actually bear. Tanya's flirting drove me insane, and Irina's cold annoyance was just as bad. She answered on the third ring.

"Edward?" She said, sounding confused by my call, more than anything else.

"Kate. Laurent came to Denali, didn't he?" I didn't bother with pleasantries, though I would have to apologize to her before hanging up, at least.

"Yes, he did. Edward, is everything alright? This sounds urgent. Can I-"

"Is he still in Denali?"

"Well, yes, he is." She said, and I sighed in relief. This was the best link I had. "Edward, what is going on?" She said, and I could hear a slight panic in her voice.

"It's fine, Kate. Nothing to worry about. I need to speak to Laurent, is he nearby?"

"Er... no. We're out shopping..." She mumbled. She sounded like Bella; out of the sisters, she least liked shopping. "Umm.... Tanya would like a word, do you mind?" She sighed, just as tired with her sister as I was.

"No! I mean, no thanks, I've got a lot to do at the minute. If you could just tell Laurent to call me as soon as you get back...?"

"No, we'll be ages, apparently." She groaned. "Why didn't you just call the house? I'm sure he'll be in,"

"I was worried that someone _else_ might have answered if I called the house. If you know what I mean," I said, smiling slightly.

"Oh, okay," She giggled. "Bye Edward!" She said cheerily, and hung up. I called the house almost instantly afterward.

"Hola?" It was Carmen that answered.

"Carmen, generally we speak English in America," I smiled a little, despite myself.

"Ahhhh! Señor Edward ¡ Como estas?"

"Sorry, Carmen. I would like to chat, but I really need to speak to Laurent, is he around?"

"Si! I mean, yes! I'll go get him for you," She leaned away from the phone and an immeasurable amount of Spanish could be heard, profanities stringing through till it no longer made sense. She returned to the phone a second later. "We're all going on holiday to Spain soon, they all want to be more than fluent in Spanish," She giggled. "He doesn't have a clue what I called him,"

"I wish I didn't either," I smiled.

"Hello?" Came the sound of Laurent's deep voice on the other side of the line. Joking time was over. I needed to find out about Victoria.

"Laurent, are you still in contact with Victoria?" I said urgently. He was silent for a long moment, and I knew the truth instantly, no matter what he would say next.

"Yes," He sighed after the long pause.

"Have you got any recent information?"

"Not recent, though I do believe she was heading your way, south perhaps? Not heard about her either?"

"I have, that's why I'm calling. I need to find her; fast."

"Ah. Well… I'm not sure what I can do to help you," I could tell he was lying. I don't know how, it was just a feeling I had. And what he was lying about, it was important to me.

"When was the last time you saw her? I asked, a rough edge to my voice.

"…Quite a while ago," He answered hesitantly.

"You're lying," I snarled. "What do you know?"

"I know you're too late, and she's not going to be happy with me for talking to you," He snickered, a major turnaround. Filthy rat.

"I can, and I _will_ hunt you down, Laurent, if you do not tell me."

"Really?" He said innocently. "But what do you think I know?"

"I _do_ like making French bonfires, Laurent." I hissed. "I don't know what you know, but God help me, I _will_ find out, even if it means I make you into a fire. In fact, I like it better that way."

I could hear him quiver a little on the other end of the line. Laurent was a rat, a two-faced deceiver, not one for violence. I would beat him, no question. "S-she's after Bella." He stuttered, changing again.

"I know that. What do you know that I _don't_?"

"I swear Edward, that's all I know. She only told me this because… If she needs help, she will call on me. But we both doubt that. I'm essentially still part of her coven. She can call on me whenever. Though you won't tell the Denali's, will you?"

"I won't tell my cousins that you are a _filthy lying rat?!_ Why are you with them, if you're not in their coven?!"

"Well… you see… _Irina_ and I…," He said.

"I am going to tell them. Why would I protect _you_?" With that, I hung up with enough force that shattered my phone into miniscule pieces. How was I going to save her now? I couldn't exactly stalk her and wait for Victoria to strike, she was going to hit when we were preoccupied, fighting werewolves. So… was there any way to stop the fight? Not even Alice knew _why_, so there was basically no way to counter it. For all I knew, sometime in the future it would be _us_ calling for the war, not them.

I couldn't stop this from happening. Victoria would come, find Bella and leave again, undetected, all the while my family and I would be dying in the hands of dogs. And Bella was with this Jacob, meaning there was nothing I could really do on that side of things. The best I could do is to try and figure out her situation, if things were going well with Jacob, find a loophole in this. Though I knew we were already doomed. Bella would end in the hands of Victoria; my family would end because of _mutts_. Either that, or they all ended because of me. Of course, I would die with them, even if I had already died today.

**AN: What do you think? Review, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease? I haven't updated in a while, I worked on a new story idea, and it got 2 hits! Just 2! :( :( So I'm feelin' kinda sad xD**

**Thanks, reviewers & readers, you do indeed make my day :) Well... it's kinda night now.. :P**

**Will someone please read my other story? It's kinda random stuffs, I know, but I like humor... even if it is a little silly. Anyway, the story's called 'Mysteries of an Adopted Vampire'. It's an after Breaking Dawn story, not a New Moon one, shocking. So give it a try. The first chapter is in another character's POV, but she's minor, methinks. Either way, please read? Tyyy.**

**I think I got 1 guess about Alice's vision, and I'm beginning to feel like I'm getting predictable. It's kinda right... All shall be revealed! Mwaaaaaaha. No, srsly, don't go reading that review. ¬_¬  
Thanks neway, crazycass. Cookie to you, and all others who read and reviewed anyway, even without guessing.  
Think that one of the next chapters will be Jacobs POV, and there's going to have to be a couple of schoolish ones, right? Mhm, yeah. I think so.. :P**

**Rachee (: x**


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